Ever As Before
by ladyofthelake1986
Summary: Adam lost everything the night his wife died. For fourteen years he has lived his life with her name on his lips and her smile in his heart. But with a new family and more responsibilities then he could ever want he must soldier on. When his daughter's life is threatened by a terrible sickness he must find a way to save her. Even if that means turning to the Enchantress.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Beauty and the Beast and all it's affiliated characters. I just own my characters, or more appropriately, they own me.**

 **This story just sort of wrote itself. I put it off for about three years and it finally just came to life without my being able to stop it. I told myself I would not write another Beauty and the Beast fanficion but this brain-child just wouldn't leave alone. I loved it and still love it now that it's written. I plan on submitting a chapter or two every week for a while. Depending on the audience reaction so reviews are MAJOR keys in keeping this puppy going. I have only recently seen the new Beauty and the Beast movie so there is much more 1991 Beauty and the Beast then 2017 Beauty and the Beast.**

 **In this story:**

 **-The Prince was still about eleven when the spell was cast**

 **-He still struggled with reading. In my my mind the prince had dyslexia or something like it. That would explain his having trouble reading despite being tutored with the best scholars in France. It reconciled the two takes on the prince's character when the new movie came out.**

 **-I made Lumiere the Butler and Cogsworth the Major Domo. It make more sense with a household that large in that time period.**

 **-I used the name Adam, though I still don't entirely agree that it is his official name. They didn't even call him that in the new movie when they had the chance. But it suited him for this purpose and so it will work.**

 **-Instead of making Adam a king I kept him a prince. In my mind he is the eldest son of the second son of the actual king of France. That puts him about sixth in line for the throne and able to move about a little more freely then history would have allowed in this particular story. I wanted to steer clear of the historical fanatics.**

 **-Everything does start off kind of sad but keep with it. This baby has a GREAT ending!**

 **-Please forgive all grammatical errors and spelling missteps. I edited until I just couldn't do it anymore and if I missed something it was not for lack of trying.**

 **-Please leave reviews on what you liked and didn't like and why. It is only going to help me as a writer. I want to pull a Cassandra Clare and jump from fanfiction writer to MAJOR AWARD WINNING AUTHOR :)**

 **-I have included a song lyric to every chapter. It will make for an awesome playlist and it usually goes with the chapter. Music basically propelled this novel into life.**

 _ **"Stars" Grace Potter**_

 _ **I lit a fire with the love you left behind  
And it burned wild and crept up the mountainside  
I followed your ashes into outer space  
I can't look out the window, I can't look at this place**_

 _ **All those times we looked up at the sky**_

 _ **Looking out so far, we felt like we could fly**_

 _ **And now I'm all alone in the dark of night  
The moon is shining but I can't see the light**_

 _ **And I can't look at the stars  
They make me wonder where you are  
Stars, up on Heaven's boulevard  
And if I know you at all,  
I know you've gone too far  
So I, I can't look at the stars**_

An earth-shattering howl split the skies, was taken up and then drown in the rage of the storm that whipped and blew the tangle of mere pathetic humans as they grasped against the ragged cliff face. Sheer terror played on their faces as they scrambled, scrapped, and pulled themselves to a safety that was not safe at all.

A woman trapped in the remnants of a carriage gripped a hand on the broken wheel and the other around her husband's forearm. Her long brunette locks were plastered against her pale head and a streak of blood ran down her cheek and off the tip of her chin. She tried to steady her feet as the carriage once again was hit with a gale of wind to knock her off balance and on instinct she released the hand that was holding the splintered wheel and placed it on her rounded stomach to protect her unborn child resting precariously inside her womb. Her husband's hands gripped her thin wrist with so much force she felt her bone threaten to break away and she cried out in pain as a the carriage rocked back and forth. Her husband's grip was slick with sweat and rain. Half his torso lay upon a vast precipice, the other dangling precariously off to keep his hold on the two things that mattered the most in his life. He felt the weight of three strong arms holding him to the ground as he attempted to scoot closer and closer off the vast cliff. The screams and cries of servants and royalty alike were scattered into the cacophony of sound and nearly drown out the calls of the two lovers who were barely holding onto one another.

"Please! Adam! Don't let go! Don't let go!"

"I won't! Hold on, Belle! I've got you. God, please hold on!"

If there was a God above, he pleaded, then he would be able to pull her up. She would get her footing and angels would reach down from heaven and lift her safely back into his arms. Suddenly a loud crack was heard. A servant girl, in an attempt to scale the cliff face to save her mistress made an erring step upon a jutted branch. With a shrill scream she waved her arms in the air for balance and began the slow decent to the bottom of the cliff. No one above her heard the mighty splash she made as she hit the blunt rocks below. Nor did they hear the whispered sigh as she was swept away in the current below.

If Belle had had a shred of energy left she would have said a prayer for her little maid's sweet soul. As it was, she let out a terrible sob and looked back into Adam's eyes. They were blue, her brain remarked. Blue like the deepest and richest ocean. They tossed and turned with fear and uncertainty as she continued to adjust his grip on her and pull himself free from his own servants, who pinned him so effectively to the ground. He clenched his teeth in sheer determination as he pulled and turned her arm to try and lift her off her feet and out of the carriage.

"Don't let go!"

At the very last the brightest of lightening ripped the sky in two. The Gods showing their disdain for the pitiful humans below, tore the great oak tree that rested upon the cliff point and in an instant the entire outcome of fate was changed. Without warning the tree shred itself in half and with a groaning creek it began to fall down the cliff wall. Someone screamed in terror and it wasn't for several moments that Belle realized it was her own voice she was hearing. Like devils of Hell, reaching out of the pit of damnation, one branch caught hold of the broken wheel still attached to the torn carriage and without preamble began to drag the carriage down to the bottom with it. For a small eternity Belle and Adam locked eyes and gazed at each other through the infinity, knowing the outcome and yet neither believing it. His mouth forming the words one more time, _"Don't let go!"_ as her very being reached for him in longing. For his love, his devotion, for the life they would never have, for the child that would never be born. And then, just as suddenly her hand slipped through his without a sound as she was thrown to the opposite side of the carriage, the broken door flapping shut and locking itself and its precious occupants inside the way one would nail a coffin closed until the day of judgment would arrive to release them from their prison.

With an aching roar of pain and disbelief Adam rose from the ground, tossing his servants to the side like they were mere insects. With inhuman grace he made to lunge off the cliff and to his doom to join his wife as she would come crashing, first into the felled tree, and then into the river below. His bodyguards were anticipating this as if generals leading troops into battle. All leaped together to grasp the man that was their prince and held him securely around the middle. Adam would have torn them to shreds if he could but assume his other form so easily as they were holding him. He fought with the strength of a lion, unable to utter the coherent words, his body was screaming to them in protest. Words to release him, to let him save his wife. One man, Luis, knowing the will and stubbornness of his captive prince had to make a decision or all would be lost. With a raging roar and howl coming from Adam's torn lips, Luis swung a fisted glove backwards so that a gauntlet was exposed and with a resounding swish, brought his wrist across the back of Adam's tender human skull. The broken prince immediately slumped forward into darkness with the image of the most beautiful brown eyes gazing at him in despair.

* * *

Torn from his dream, Adam woke up with a startled cry of pain, still remembering the mighty blow he received to the back of his head as he fell forward into Luis's arms. Dripping with sweat he lifted himself from his bed and for the thousandth time in thirteen years he searched his room to realize with the deepest of disappointments that it was a dream, a reoccurring nightmare where he was forced to relive, again and again, the sad tragedy of his past

He raked his hand through his unruly golden and graying hair and squinted in the darkness to assess the hour. It seemed abnormally dark inside his room and it took several moments to realize that this was because the curtains had been drawn over the face of the windows and the doors leading to the balcony. He cursed the efficiency of his man-servant and gingerly stepped down the dais of his massive, yet cold, bed and picked his way over to the window. He felt jittery and exhausted and wished nothing more than to succumb to sleep once more. But the fear of finding himself once again screaming in terror and despair as he watched the love of a thousand lifetimes fall to her death along with their unborn child was enough to keep him wide awake.

He opened the curtains to the window alongside the the north wall of his stay rooms. The stars had faded into the distance but the night sky remained an inky black that was as dark as it was foreboding. Adam sighed deeply as only Adam could sigh and walked away from the window to his bureau where he retrieved a pair of drawers and trousers. He slipped these on in the dark and tied up the trews, all the while feeling his way through the drawer for a clean smelling shirt to wear. When this was done, he donned a pair of comfortable slippers and his dressing robe and made his way to the crack of light that was seeping in through the door frame. He carefully nudged it open and stepped out into the cool hallway that was only lit by a guttering candle near the lookout station. He quietly made his way down the hall to the corridor at the end of the West Wing. Slipping through and walking in a direction that he would have been able to find in his sleep he entered the kitchens without a sound and shut the passageway behind him. Once inside he calmly sat on the rickety bar stool at the cutting table to wait. It wouldn't' be long now.

And, sure enough, as the clock started to chime four in the morning a man of a rather wide girth came toddling into the kitchens. Harmon had been the royal chef for as long as Adam could remember and his schedule was so predicable that Adam was certain the man would continue to do the same routine day in and day out, long after the older man's body would cease to exist.

With a wan smile Adam looked up as Harmon spotted his master sitting on the bar stool.

"Well, aren't you a miserable sight, your Highness."

Adam chuckled to himself at the assessment. "Perhaps it is not me who is miserable but the hour on which you are viewing me."

Harmon laughed and wagged his finger at Adam, "Oh, no, this hour has been my secret lover for twenty years and she is still as beautiful as ever."

"I hate to break it to you, old friend, but that has not been a secret to anyone for twenty years."

"Well, there you have it."

There was a long pause as Harmon made a big show of starting the fires inside the wooden stoves. It wasn't more than a few minutes before the room was a much more pleasant temperature to Adam's liking.

"Will it be coffee or tea this morning, Your Grace."

"Both" Adam replying without looking away from the knots on the table.

"That bad this time, sire?"

"More or less the same as always."

"Ah, I see."

Harmon poured hot water into several large mugs. He brewed a strong kettle of coffee that snapped Adam's senses to life at the smell of it. When Harmon was satisfied with the strong mint tea he had thrown together he placed the mugs, a saucer of cream and a bowl of sugar in front of Adam and then continued his long process of making breakfast. He would not do it all himself but he didn't trust any of the other cooks and chefs to get the preparations correct, thus he was in the kitchens long before anyone else to prepare.

After several long draws of the coffee in its deep, rich form Adam felt himself perk up enough and then added some cream and sugar to both. He liked the sweet taste but knew that if he really wanted to come out of his daze he would need at least a few good mouthfuls of the bitter brew.

When it seemed that Harmon was at least initially satisfied with the preparations for the days early meal he finally sat himself down on the stool across from his prince and began to chop and peel vegetables the way a magician would mix and stir his potions.

"I don't suppose the return of your early morning visitations has anything to do with the upcoming Anniversary this week, does it?"

"I suppose I have been thinking about it more often then I would normally."

"How old would it be?"

Adam gave a sad little smile. They had this conversation every year, and yet, it never grew tired.

"Almost fourteen."

"Is it a girl or a boy this year?"

"I think another girl."

"It has been a girl for the last six years, your Highness."

"I guess perhaps with two girls already I wouldn't know how to raise a boy if I had wanted one."

"Poor little fellow! Father wanted to chop his member off before he fully grew one."

Adam laughed at the ribald humor and shook his head. "Oh, no, but he would have two sisters to compete with my affections and you know how easily they have me strangled in the palms of their delicate little hands."

"That is to say if you would have even had any girls at all. It is the mother's fault, after all."

"Ah, I'm not sure if I've ever believed that myth."

"That is science, your Highness. Always blame the mother" Harmon winked sardonically at Adam and continued to peel potatoes.

"I wonder if we would have come back here all these summers if they had lived. I dread it every year."

"La Chateau de la Rose has been in your family for generations. Being sixth in line for the throne has to hold some level of grandeur, Your Highness."

"And that is all it holds, Harmon. Horrible memories and the ghosts of a past I would sooner forget."

"Cannot forget the past, Your Highness. No matter where you go she is going to follow you until the end of your days. You cannot be party to a love story as epic as yours is and expect anything different."

"In my nightmares, I try to save her again and again. A different time in every dream. As if this time I will have succeeded and I will wake up to her in my bed. Until this time."

"What happened this time?"

"It was as if I was watching it from inside her eyes. I saw it all as it was and all I could see was this desperate foolish boy of a man who stupidly took his expecting wife out where he couldn't protect her and then I watched as he let her fall."

Adams voice had risen with emotion at his retelling of the nightmare and he clenched his fist without realizing that he was doing so.

"Now, now, son. Hush that talk. Do not let a nasty wisp of a nightmare cloud your memory. You did not let her fall and if I remember Belle the way she was, there was no stopping her from climbing into that carriage with you had she been hog-tied. Full to the brim or otherwise."

"Perhaps."

"Would you like more tea?"

"No, thank you. I think I am feeling much better now."

"I will send more up to the study after breakfast is served."

"Is this my dismissal, Harmon."

"It surly is. I have work to do, boy, without you crowding underfoot. I'm sure Cogsworth and Lumiere are dragging their sorry carcasses out of bed and you are welcome to bother them for a while."

Despite Adam being anything but a boy he smiled fondly at the old chef and took his leave of the kitchen without any chagrin at the audacity of being dismissed and then called a 'boy'.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **Alrighty, here is the second chapter. It's still a lot of exposition but I am in love with the set up. Elizabeth was such an interesting addition to the build up of the characters. I wanted her to be as different from Belle as possible. She will prove to be interesting. Please review and tell me what you think so far. I will post again soon.**

* * *

 **"You Wait For Rain" Kyler England**

 **I was never good at standing still  
Always got a hunger to fill, yeah  
Don't think you ever understood that's who I am  
What we gotta face is we're in different places**

 **You wait for rain and I chase the storm**  
 **We just don't see it the same way**  
 **You say you want change but you're never sure**  
 **We can't go on like this anymore**  
 **Cause at the end of the day**  
 **You wait for rain and I chase the storm**

 **How'd we ever get so far from where we started from?**  
 **The hardest thing about this is I still care**  
 **You know there's something better for both of us out there**

* * *

With breakfast laid out the sounds and smells of the kitchen drew a rather large crowd from their warm comfortable beds. It was early summer and most of the castle's occupants would prefer to sleep until noon and then enjoy a nice early lunch. But La Chateau de la Rose tended to operate more on the schedule of the Royal family and neither the prince, nor the princess slept in very often.

After having quit the kitchens Adam returned to his room to find his two Heads of House waiting for him with matching glares as if he left his bed in the early hours before dawn on a regular basis and prowled the halls in his dressing gown. Which he did.

After rinsing his mouth with rose water, allowing his men to assist him in the morning rituals of shaving, combing and pulling back his long hair and dressing in his morning attire. He must be perfectly costumed for his daily meeting with chancellors, countrymen seeking aid and favor, and the morning meal that felt more like a performance for the masses then an actual meal.

He made his way down the corridor slowly and stopped at every mirror and painting to stall for time. He paused at a particularly tall gilded mirror and glared at its reflection fiercely when he went to move onto the next, his foot collided with something soft. Upon further inspection Adam realized that he had just kicked a servant in the gut hard enough to cause the young man to gasp for air. How he had not noticed the poor thing polishing the adjoining table next to the mirror was anyone's guess.

 _'Perhaps,_ ' he thought _'I am becoming entirely too vain once again with all this staring into mirrors.'_ The young servant clutched his stomach and wheezed before trying to bow and only managing to hit one knee.

"Gads! Please, do excuse me!" Adam reached out a hand and the boy looked up to see Adam with the most terrible fear on his face. He retracted his hand and looked at the servant in puzzlement. He couldn't be older than twenty, but age was deceptive. Adam didn't look as old as he inevitably felt.

"I don't believe I have met you. What is your name?"

The boy looked around himself as if to find shelter but seeing none, rose to his feet and then bowed low. "I am Jacque. I did not mean to disturb His Highness. Please forgive me!"

Adam smiled but was still unnerved by the look of abstract terror on the boy's face. "Please forgive me for kicking you. I did not see you crouching there."

Jacque nodded and shuffled his feet. He was handsome and well built, Adam mused. Perhaps he was new enough that he would advance in the household.

"Have you had breakfast, Jacque?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Oh...That is where I am going now..."

The awkwardness was unnerving and Adam had no idea how to extradite himself from the conversation.

As if on cue, Lumiere materialized out of thin air and appeared at Adam's side. "Adam! We are waiting on you" Then spotting Jacque he glanced between his master and the servant and finally waved a hand in the boy's face.

"You! Off wiz you! You 'ave been slacking on your duties enough zis week! If zis corridor isn't polished to perfection I will be forced to release ze chamber maids on you!" Lumiere laughed and the boy nodded with fear on his face and took off down the corridor like a bullet.

"Release the chamber maids?"

"Zey are quite besotted wiz 'im."

"And that would be a punishment?"

" 'E is young and not yet acquainted wiz amore, if you know what I mean?" Lumiere wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"You are cruel." Adam continued down the corridor. "He seemed terrified of me. Why?"

"Well, you are terrifying. 'Tis only natural."

"Last I checked there were no fangs or claws to speak of."

"Zat does not mean zey are not zere."

With a smile Lumiere patted Adam's back jovially and they continued to the breakfast room together.

* * *

With as much energy as he could muster Adam entered the room to find it sparsely occupied. He walked along the left side to alight himself next to a woman clad in a morning gown of pale peach with embroidered leaves on the sleeves and an intricate pattern of lace on the bodice. She had a steaming cup of tea and was sipping it slowly. Her hair was pulled back in an almost severe looking knot and to complete the ensemble she wore demur but still extravagant jewelry at her throat, wrists and fingers. She eyed Adam a little warily from her teacup and he wasn't surprised that she only nodded her acknowledgment of his arrival. They had quarreled quite severely two nights before. She had been suspiciously absent from meals since then, claiming megrims. He would be lying if he said he wasn't heart-broken from not seeing her.

"Good-morning, my dearest." He said softly as he took his seat. He reached out a hand to touch hers but she conveniently chose that moment to move it to her spoon.

"Good-Morning" She responded and at least Adam could know that she wasn't completely ignoring him, though the rejection of his touch stung painfully.

Her voice was a lovely soprano that reminded the hearer of trickling streams running along pebbles. She had a dainty face that would have charmed the poison out of a snake and her full red lips were made more so by her wheat colored hair. Adam would often stare at those lips with longing and they would always remind him of the first time he had kissed her underneath the arbor in the garden and how soft they were, even to this day.

At the moment they were contorted into a grim line that might have resembled the hints of a smile if she hadn't seemed so stiff. Adam hoped the tea would warm her up. They had a long day ahead of them.

Without preamble, servants vied to place food on Adam's plate. He accepted several of his usual choices and watched the disappointed expressions of those he refused with a hint of humor. One of these days he would have to change his routine and ask for something outrageous. Just to keep things interesting.

"Where is everyone?" He asked nonchalantly as he spread a thick marmalade on his toast.

At that very moment Cosgworth appeared out of thin air at Adam's side and gave him just the touch of a smile underneath his mustache.

"The Royal hunting party has returned, Your Highness."

Adam sat his toast down and looked at Cogsworth with a smile. "That is good news! All in one piece, I trust?"

"Indeed, Your Highness. In that light do you still wish to hear the morning report?"

Adam resumed his work on the toast and nodded his head in agreement.

Clearing his throat with a jovial puff of his chest, Cogsworth produce a large sheet of parchment and an ink quill.

"The Duke of Westerly is eagerly awaiting your answer about his stock of sheep and inquired on your willingness to venture to Westerly yourself to help persuade you into his favor."

Adam nodded his head agreeably. "Tell him that I will consider it."

Cogsworth nodded and wrote it down on his parchment. "I believe that is the answer you have given him the last three times he has inquired."

"Right on schedule then"

"Quite."

"We have secured a separate tutor for William now that he is being separated out of the nursery. He can begin his tutelage as soon as Master Dominique arrives."

"Very good, very good. His father will be pleased to hear it now that he has arrived home safely"

"You have agreed to meet with the chancellors directly after the afternoon meal to discuss crop disbursement and the annual tax."

"I am amenable."

"You also have agreed to meet with His Lordship's physician directly after this meal."

Adam groaned and rolled his eyes as only he could do. "Must I?" he asked sullenly, seeming more like a boy and less like a grown man of thirty-seven.

"Indeed, you must."

"Very well."

"And lastly, I have taken it upon myself to meet with the royal decorators and musicians about The Anniversary this week."

Before Adam could answer the woman sitting next to him finally spoke up. "How many years will it be, Cogsworth?"

"Thirteen, Your Highness."

There was an interminable pause as Adam slowly turned his head to look at his wife. She was exquisite in her beauty and yet there was a bitterness behind her eyes that Adam had only recently discovered.

She gazed back at him without a single twitch of a muscle, her tea cup half empty in her hands.

"Such extravagance for thirteen years, don't you think?"

On the outside this would seem like a simple question for a husband and wife to share but for this pair it was so much more than that. It was an age old argument that had begun to infect the space between them and was just now starting to fester. She knew that she was asking him so much more than a mere question of money or resources and she knew it.

Adam, remained calm. He had become the master and ruler of maintaining his emotions. They were securely in check, he was certain of it and so the only indication of the affect of this question was the slight twinge of pain in his voice as he spoke softly to his wife.

"She was my wife, Elizabeth. It is to honor her memory."

"I am your wife now. And I have been your wife for three times as long as she."

"I am well aware of this."

"It would seem to me that you are not nearly as aware as you would have others believe."

Adam paused and looked down the table to see how many people were witnessing the disagreement that was blossoming between the rulers. "Is it such a burden to you? On every day of the year I would celebrate you if you would allow it. Only one day a year do I permit the castle to bring her back into the light. Is that so much to ask of you?"

She looked him in the eye and her own resembled caramel next to her pale skin. "Yes, it's too much to ask."

He murmured but there was a distinct edge in his voice. _"Why?"_

"Preparing a grand memorial for a long dead woman, bringing us back to La Chateau de la Rose year after year, and of course your continuous nightmares where you call for your dead wife as if she is still with us today. It's too much, Adam!"

Adam felt slightly stunned at her audacity but it shouldn't have surprised him. They were boats on an ocean that had lost sight of one another in the dark. And for the life of him he couldn't seem to get them back to where they were, no matter the efforts.

"I wish you had chosen to confront me on these matters at a more private time." Elizabeth considered her tea cup for a moment as if he had scolded her. While her head was bent he continued his train of thought. "I... did not realize you were being informed of my nightmares."

"Then it's true?"

"Yes, it's true." He whispered, knowing it would hurt her.

She lifted her eyes and looked at him as if to reach across the space between them with whatever she was hiding behind. Then just as quickly she gave a curt nod and then rose from her seat. Adam and every other guest that had been sitting at the table, party to the small spat between Prince and Princess, stood up like a shot and watched as Elizabeth excused herself softly and exited the room as if she was escaping a prison. With dignity, of course, always dignity.

Once she was no longer in the room a hundred little gossipy whispers broke out. Adam pursed his lips and then looked up at his most trusted adviser. Cogsworth, as baffled as everyone else, watched at the closed door where the princess had exited and then back at Adam.

"Don't worry, sire." He paused to swallow. "She will come around."


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright, I wasn't going to post a chapter so soon but I'm just too excited for you to read it.**

 **-First, THANK YOU to to ladivina for posting MY FIRST REVIEW! SO freaking excited!**

 **-The build up for this story is going to be a bit slow. It's a weird writing style with fanfiction, in that you have to build a world inside an already built world. Otherwise you are just copying what the original has done and that is both boring and slightly unethical.**

 **-That means that quite a few chapters are what is going to lead us to the MAIN event of the story and that wont be for a while. PLEASE be patient and continue to read as everything that is happening is important to the journey.**

 **-There are a few new characters in here but they are all connected to Adam. I try not to add too many unnecessary characters if I don't have to.** **But don't worry, there are going to be a lot of people that you recognize. :)**

 **-Also, Adam with his children! Also, I realize that it wasn't exactly a standard practice for anyone to just go to the doctor for a check-up in this time period but I figure since Adam literally died in the original story I choose to believe that everyone is a little over-protective of him.**

 **-As always, forgive my spelling and grammatical errors. They are my mortal enemies.**

 **-And as always PLEASE review! I love them! They mean so much to me as a writer.**

* * *

 **Song for this chapter is: "All the King's Horses" Karmina**

 **Run with my hands on my eyes**  
 **Blind, but I'm still alive**  
 **Free to go back on my own**  
 **But is it still a home**  
 **When you're all alone?**

 **Is it still a home**  
 **When you're all alone?**

 **All the king's horses and all the king's men**  
 **Couldn't put me back together again**  
 **All the king's horses and all the king's men**  
 **Couldn't put me back together again**

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

Adam sat in a soft chaise, his jacket and vest removed and his linen shirt open. His personal physician's ear pressed up skin to skin to the left side of Adam's bare breast. He watched a spot on the wall and focused on nothing. His animal instincts never liked people, men especially, to get this close to him. It made him nervous and skittish and Adam had to keep those inhuman inclinations in check. When Claude seemed to be satisfied he leaned back and nodded that Adam was allowed to resume his modesty.

"Will that be all?" Adam said with a hint of impatience.

"Almost. Just a few questions if you will, Sire?"

Adam looked to Cogsworth and Lumiere who both nodded severely at him. Without finishing the buttons on his shirt Adam leaned against the back of the sofa and folded his arms over his still bare breast.

"How is your rheumatism?"

By rheumatism, Claude meant the horrible pains Adam sometimes received on the right side of his gut. Once upon a time, Adam was stabbed clear through his stomach with a wide hunting knife and very few people knew that he still felt the effects of it.

"Tolerable"

"Are you eating enough?"

This question was actually directed looking at both Cogsworth and Lumiere as if they were the ones who would answer truthfully. It was a fair assumption as Adam never really kept track of his own eating and sleeping habits.

Lumiere nodded his head amiably and then winked at Adam with a sly smile. Claude released a vast sigh as if to screw up his courage.

"Any nightmares or sweats?"

Adam considered the questions for a split moment. He thought: _'Do you mean aside from every single night?'_

"Not a one."

"Any symptoms of displeasure or heart-sickness?"

He muttered internally: _'What a stupid question.'_

"I am as happy as the sun shining in the sky."

At that very moment, as if irony wanted to prove a very valid point, thunder pounded in the sky and the clouds that had been threatening rain for days let loose a downpour that would create mud holes in every road from here to the village. Adam continued to stare at Claude as if he hadn't heard.

There was a long pause before the physician continued in his interrogation. "And have you experienced any brain fever."

Adam blew air through his nose. "Let's not mince words, Claude. You mean to ask me if I am going mad. It was about this age that my father did and you are checking to see if I am going to continue down his path."

With a long-suffering look above his spectacles, Claude stared into Adam's soul.

"Adam, I have known you since you were a babe suckling on your wet nurse' teat."

"Oh God, what a memory." Adam looked away, slightly embarrassed.

"And I know that you have experienced a great deal of hardship in your lifetime. You cannot blame me for wanting to be sure that you do not suffer as your family suffered at our former Master's hands. May he rest in peace."

"Amen" Lumiere echoed behind the current ruler of the castle and his physician.

"Well, I will give you the utmost assurance that I am well and thriving."

"That is good to hear. I should be expecting the news of an heir soon, then?"

This gave Adam pause.

"News?"

"Yes, Your Highness. An heir will be expected. Your youngest is nearly six and a girl."

Adam rubbed his face, disbelieving. "Has it really been that long?"

The doctor busied himself with preparing to return to his quarters, knowing full well Adam did not have an answer for that. Truth be told it had been a little chilly as of late. In the beginning he and Elizabeth had produced two beautiful children easily but it had been a while since they had even discussed the idea of another child. How long had it been? He wracked his brain for the last time he had come to her and was baffled that he couldn't remember.

"You have no sons, Your Grace, and you still have time to produce one." Cogsworth said tactfully, breaking Adam away from his musings.

"I do have two children already. You both have not forgotten, I trust."

"Your daughters will make marvelous matches when the time comes, your Highness..."

Adam twitched his mouth a little at the stupidity of it. "Ah, I see. Not sufficient to succeed me when I finally return to the earth. Apparently you have not had to go toe to toe with Beasty yet in a scuffle. She would teach you a thing or two."

He was only partly jesting in his claims of his youngest daughter.

"Oh, of course, sire. We are well aware of what a formidable opponent Princess Isabelle is. We are just concerned."

"What is there to be concerned about?"

All three men stood still and looked at the Prince like a specimen to be considered. Finally Adam sighed heavily as if it was a great burden they were laying at his feet.

"I will discuss it with Elizabeth."

Without any more preamble he strode purposefully out of the room

* * *

The sounds coming from the nursery were loud and rambunctious and Adam was loath to open the door and disturb whatever adventure the children were on but it would be the only time he had to see them for the rest of the day and he wanted to be sure that he took advantage of it. The sight on the other side of the door was one to behold. The children had built a fort out of the bed frames and toy chests. On top of the pile, tied up and precariously perched was Princess Rosamund. She shouted orders through the wet cloth tied around her mouth.

At the bottom of the pile, wearing old armor that was at least three sizes too big for them stood Princess Isabelle and her trusty companion William. Adam wondered where they had procured the armor and had a clear picture and accurate assumption that Princess Isabelle had probably climbed inside the rubbish bin and fished it out.

"But what shall we do?!" Wailed William.

"We shall save the princess, stupid!"

"But what about the dragon?!"

And just as he said it, out from under a pile of blankets a man burst forth with the most astounding show of roaring and flapping of paper wings. Crawling on all fours he scuttled over to the pair at the bottom of the pile and bellowed for all to hear. William trembled behind Isabelle and genuinely seemed frightened of the man in dragon wings. Isabelle, on the other hand, in true Isabelle fashion, drew a wooden sword from her belt and began to advance on 'the dragon'. As if to retreat from the fierce little warrior the man backed up and ran clear into Adam's legs.

"Oy, there!" the man said and whipped around. At the sight of Adam standing over him Captain Luis made to bow to his sovereign and detach his wings at the same time and only managed to fall clear onto his backside. His stunned look told the most amusing story of surprise and embarrassment as he finally made it to his feet, bowed demurely, stood ram-rod strait, all with his dragon wings still attached.

"Your Highness."

Adam eyed him curiously and then was bombarded by the iron grip of Isabelle. "Papa!"

He barely had time to register her as she leapt from the sofa at the doorway and into his arms.

"Beasty!" He cried back with joy. The little girl may have only been six but she had the fight in her of the most ornery tiger you would ever have the pleasure of meeting, hence her nickname.

"Where have you been? We've been waiting for you all day!" This disrespect was only made more wonderful to Adam by the bounce of her little blond curls.

"Oh, my fair knight, I have been away disposing of the most horrid creature known to man and beast alike."

"What creature, Papa?" Her eyes wide.

"The Physician!"

She gasped with her whole body and placed her small delicate hands on his face. "Papa, are you sick?"

He smiled. "Only with missing you." And to her delight he pelted her with kisses until she squealed to be released.

"But tell me, fair Knight. Where is your sister?" Adam feigned looking around the room for Rosamund as if he couldn't see her, now lying, on the pile of furniture trying to wriggle her way out of her restraints.

"Unfortunately father, the dragon demanded a sacrifice. I had to do what I had to do."

At that moment, William stood up with a look of betrayal on his face. "I thought you said we were trying to rescue the princess!"

"Well! We needed the dragon hide and to do so we needed a sacrifice! It was a fair trade!"

Rosamund, through her gag, glared at Isabelle and garbled a "Hmm! Misvelle!"

Then, losing her balance began to tumble down the mountain of furniture. With a swiftness that was entirely inhuman, Adam was across the room and scooped up Rosamund before she hit the floor. She continued to wriggle and with one arm still around her waist he pulled her gag down and wrapped her in his great big arms as tightly as he could to his chest without harming her.

"Papa, Papa" She murmured into his hair. She smelled of fresh roses and rain, which gave him an indication that these three might have tried to escape to the rose garden before being apprehended by their governess.

"My Rosebud." He murmured back. Both girls looked a great deal like their mother. Beautiful and willowy, with soft blond tresses and dainty hands and feet. But, to his pleasure, they both inherited his luminous, large blue eyes. Adam's heart beat with familiarity as he saw himself reflected back.

"Papa, do not be cross with Captain Luis. He was only doing his duty."

"I told him I would eat all the plumb cake if he didn't play with us!" Isabelle broke in with delight. Adam considered her with amusement for a moment and wondered if his little Beasty was going to end up an evil villain. Perhaps just a tyrannical despot.

Adam looked to Captain Luis who seemed to be dying of embarrassment at the hands of two little girls wearing day gowns of pale lavender.

"Well, under those terrible terms I would not blame man or beast from giving in. You are dismissed to your regular duties, Captain. You have performed your responsibility to the royal cause admirably."

"Thank you, Sire." Louise murmured with a sigh of relief and made his way out of the room as if he were on fire.

For a moment the only thing the girls could do was giggle at the poor captain's discomfort which was what seemed to start a coughing fit in Rosamund that took hold of her. She seemed to be coughing her lungs right out of her chest and Adam crouched down in alarm at the horrible sound his daughter was making. "Rosebud, are you ill?"

"No-" Cough "No no, Father-" Cough "I am well"

His eyes darting the room he located a pitcher of water and adeptly he pressed the whole pitcher to her rosy colored lips and she gulped copious amounts of water, sputtering her way through it.

Finally when it seemed her cough was under control, Adam re-crouched to eye level and gave her a thorough look over.

When she had regained her breath, Rosamund gave a few more deep shuddering coughs but only smiled at her father as if the entire episode had not occurred at all. Adam eyed her warily but she didn't seem to mind as she patted his cheek the way their mother used to when he became too protective over someone or something. Finally, when he seemed satisfied, he stood and turned himself about to spot William, standing forlornly with a knights helmet still on his head, visor having slipped down over his eyes, he viewed the royal family through the slats.

"William!" Adam said with joviality. William, having grown in the shadow of the mighty family he was indentured to always seemed to float around the edges of Adam's conscience. Perhaps it was his family ties to Adam that made the man so very fond of the timid little boy. With kindness that he was not always shown, Adam wrapped his arms gently around the small boy and after having removed his helmet placed a soft kiss on the child's white blond hair. Adam thought to himself.

 _'He has his father's hair.'_

"Master." William nodded his head respectfully.

"Do you know what day this is?"

William looked at his Master with confusion. "It is a Tuesday, Your Highness."

"Very good. But it is also a special Tuesday."

"What makes it so special, Papa?" Isabelle chimed in, wanting her fair share of the attention.

"It is the day the hunting party has returned to us. Do you know what that means?"

For a moment William had to really think hard and then his grey-blue eyes lit up like stars. "My father is back?"

"Indeed, he is." Adam confirmed with a smile.

"Have you seen him?"

"Not yet. Would you care for me to sneak in there and steal him away?"

"Oh please, Master! I would give anything in the whole world to see him."

The boy's lip quivered and Adam twitched it with his index finger and laughed. "Very well, I shall brave the storm to retrieve your wandering Papa back to you."

All William could do was throw his arms around his master's neck and then think better of it and back up putting his hands behind his back. "Forgive me, Master."

Adam only mussed the boy's unruly hair and stood up strait.

He turned to leave and then looked back at his two daughters who seemed perplexed at their father's abrupt visit and subsequent departure.

"Rosebud, Beasty? What would you think about another prince or princess coming to our family?"

Rosamund lit up as if Christmas had come early and smiled at her father. "I would like that very much, Papa. A little prince if at all possible."

Isabelle seemed less convinced. "Must you?"

Adam smiled at her. "Perhaps I must."

"Where will you get it?"

All of the children looked at Adam expectantly. The age long question of where babies come from finally seemed to be answered on their father's next words.

Thinking quickly Adam again crouched down next to his youngest daughter. Pointing out the window towards the vast forest surrounding La Château de la Rose he said, "Do you see that hill, just beyond the forest?"

Isabelle squinted her eyes, trying to see the nonexistent hill. "No, sir."

"Just beyond those trees there is a hill with a magic tree that bares the most amazing flowers."

"What do the flowers do, Papa?"

"They grant wishes. I think I would like to wish for a little brother or sister for you. Would you like that?"

"No, sir." Isabelle responded immediately.

"Isabelle!" Rosamund scolded her sister. "We can use him to be the dragon from now on."

This seemed to peak Isabelle's interest and she looked back at her father with his blue eyes that matched her own.

"Can I feed him worms?"

"Where would you get the worms?"

"The garden. The rosebushes have the best worms."

"You would dig up my rosebushes?"

"Yes, Sir."

Adam sighed heavily and looked down with his arm still around Isabelle. "I don't think your governess would approve of you digging in the garden for worms, let alone feeding them to a baby."

Isabelle sighed, just as heavily, at her father's words. "I suppose"

Adam laughed and hugged his daughter one more time. He wasn't sure when she jumped from six years old to sixty but he loved every inch of her mischievous little soul.

"It will be wonderful, I promise." But even as he said it Adam felt a twinge of guilt. Would it be wonderful? He couldn't be sure.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 **Alrighty! We are well on our way! I am pumping out chapters a little faster then I had planned but I want to get through some of the build up so that we can get to the really interesting parts of the story. It's going to get good very soon. And don't worry, everyone that seems to be missing so far will get their moment to shine.**

 **-This is a reintroduction to a favorite character from the movie. There was a lot of ways I could have presented them but I chose this way because I wanted someone who wasn't just an adviser, but a real friend. I think you'll really like how I've molded their character to fit the time period of the story. They play an integral part and have ended up being one of my favorites to write about.** **Just for clarification and a point of reference: This character is considered Adam's royal "Master of the Hunt". It is all explained in more detail later but I didn't want it to be too confusing.**

 **-In fact, I would LOOOOOOVE some reviews from all of you reading this and your perspective on what I have done so far. (I love seeing how many are checking this little brain-child out). If you are waiting for the whole fic to be finished, you might be waiting for a while. It's quite long. I'd love some reviews before then.**

 **-As, always, have a good weekend and I will post again in a few days.**

* * *

 **Before it breaks- Brandi Carlile**

 **I'm all right. Don't I seem to be?**  
 **Aren't I swinging on the stars?**  
 **Don't I wear them on my sleeve?**  
 **When you're looking for a crossroads,**  
 **It happens every day**  
 **And whichever way you turn,**  
 **I'm gonna turn the other way**

 **Say it's over, say I'm dreaming,**  
 **Say I'm better than you left me**  
 **Say you're sorry, I can take it**  
 **Say you'll wait, say you won't**  
 **Say you love me, say you don't**  
 **I can make my own mistakes**  
 **Learn to let it bend before it breaks**

* * *

The rain was pouring in earnest and Adam had to submit to be bundled up in his fur coat before making the trek across the grounds to the supply barns. Upon entering the damp structure, he viewed the scene of a hundred men. Clad in Lincoln green and looking bedraggled, but positive, as they unloaded the dozens of carts laden with supplies and dead animals. Upon his entry all the idle chatter ceased and every man stood at attention and then bowed as Adam made his way down the rows. The steward called out loudly for anyone who had not been paying attention.

"His Royal Highness, Prince Adam!"

Adam first looked around and then with a loud voice he called out into the mass of bodies, "Where is that scoundrel, Christophe Potts!"

Some of the men looked stunned at the Prince's words; others knew differently and suppressed a smile.

From out of the crush of men came a lilting voice. "If you want me, you'll have to come and get me, Oh royal one!"

Someone let out a snort of laughter and Adam narrowed his eyes at the direction the voice came from.

"Insolent ruffian! I will have your head and your heart if you don't come and face me like a man!"

Some of the men could hardly contain their guffaws. Even if Adam had not spotted the few darting eyes that were staring first at him and then behind him, Adam would have known the man he sought was planning a surprise attack. He would have been able to smell and track Christophe Potts across the continent.

Just as the younger man made a leap, Adam fainted to the left and with an animalistic twist had Christophe Potts several feet above the ground by the front of his hunting vest. Everyone watched as the older man lowered the younger one to his feet by one arm and then they regarded each other with the strangest of expressions. Without any other preamble they embraced with loud laughter and a quick kiss on either cheek.

"Oh, my boy! I have missed you!"

"And I you" Responded the man they called 'Chip'.

"Did you bring the rain with you, you rapscallion?"

"I most assuredly did not. I lost two wagon wheels already in the downpour three days past and I would curse the rain to oblivion if it wasn't necessary. It scared the game on the last leg of the hunt."

"I doubt you will get an apology out of God Himself, but you're welcome to try. In the meantime you know where to find the spare wheels."

Clapping him once more on the shoulder Adam smiled at his Master of the Hunt. "Might I steal you away for a few moments? There is a future knight and slayer of dragons that is simply beside himself to see you. I made him a solemn oath to retrieve you and I cannot be made a liar."

"So your word is law, My Prince." Christophe smiled broadly at his master. With another laugh, both walked away from the crush of men and supplies back out into the downpour. They ran at a careful trot to get out of the rain and arrived at the front doors before being thoroughly soaked. Upon entry to the castle Adam led his Master of the Hunt into the grand foyer where a large fire was burning in the grate. Adam shook himself wildly like a dog and was rewarded with loud laughter from his companion.

After a moment they both settled down in comfortable armchairs beside the fire. Despite the advanced summer months, a chill had set into the air from the rain.

"Oh Chip..." Adam said, smiling at his once unruly servant.

"Adam" Came the response.

"I trust the hunt went according to plans? You seem to have brought the entire forest home with you."

"All was well. We had a few scuffles among the men and I've banned them from drinking while on duty or any hunts hereafter, until further notice. It has only caused a few more pig-headed opinions to come to light when liquid bravery enters their brains."

"A fair and just ruling among your men."

"Thank you. And how are you here? The summer months always seem to be the hardest."

"We are well here. I will be glad to take my leave of this place. I wish I had the heart to give it back to my uncle and be rid of its ghosts."

Chip took a long draw of air through his nose. "I'm afraid, My Prince, that those ghosts will not stay with the castle even if we left off for Paris permanently."

Adam gazed at Chip out of the corner of his eyes. "And when did you come to be so wise?"

"Not wise, sire, only concerned for your welfare."

"It seems as though everyone is."

Chip looked into Adam's eyes with sympathy. "It is the Anniversary again, is it not?"

"Aye, and Elizabeth is none too pleased about it, to say the least."

Chip sat for a moment thinking about this. Then he slapped his leg and scooted a little closer to the front of his chair. "Come with me! I had intended to go on a follow up hunt through Compiegne. I want to secure enough game to last us through the journey back to Paris. Come with me! You don't even have to do the hunting. Get away from this castle for a little while. Skip the whole Anniversary altogether." He paused for a moment as if to consider his next words. "I don't think she would want you to mourn this way anymore, your Highness. You have not had a chance to live in so long. She would not want this for you. No one would."

For a brief moment Adam and Chip's eyes met and Adam's face showed a strange longing as visions of the countryside on his massive charger whipped through his mind. Warm fires and comfortable inns, local entertainment of singers and dancers and the heady smell of roasted meats, fresh cheeses, and warm ale. He could possibly get away with it with only one or two bodyguards and he even entertained the idea of going in disguise so that he would not have to be burdened with his royalty for a short time.

Then he remembered. He remembered Elizabeth and was filled with a different kind of longing. More unrequited and fragmented but still a longing to pin him to his station and his promise to her. He had things he needed to do and he knew that running away into the same countryside that held his demons would only invite trouble. He was needed here and despite the allure of the prospect, he would not cancel the Anniversary. It was the only thing he had left to give Belle. He would not deny her that.

His face falling a little, a heaviness entered his voice that had not been there previously. "I cannot, Chip. As much as I would like to, there are...responsibilities that must be fulfilled."

Without any consideration for propriety Chip cocked his head to the side. "What responsibilities this time, Sire?"

"An heir." Adam responded without preamble.

Chip tilted his head in acknowledgement and allowed the matter to drop.

"Well...In that case, might I ask your permission to go and locate my son? I would not keep him waiting for the world."

Adam smiled and nodded his head. "Go on now. I daresay, our little William could use his father. I am a poor substitute to such a fine boy. What are we going to do with him, Chip?"

Chip paused as he was making his exit. "The same thing we always do, sire. Get him by, as best we can with whomever is left with us."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **-Hey Hey Hey! Meant to post earlier but had to get myself together for the last couple of days.**

- **These next four chapters were hard to write. They are all just really intense and I struggled with it. However, there has to be conflict for the story to really move forward and propel Adam. So, if you find yourself wrapped up in the intensity...then I did my job.**

 **-Elizabeth is a tricky character. She's always going to be at a disadvantage because she isn't Belle. She's not really meant to be the** **villain, though you may find yourself disliking her. Just remember that in thirteen years Adam could not stay alone forever and that Elizabeth is very important.**

- **These two chapters will be accompanied with the following two shortly. Things will slowly start to make sense as we continue but I can't post four chapters at once. The next two will come soon.**

 **-I also upped the rating to a T. I realized that there is some intimacy in these next few chapters that go a little above a K+. Nothing too racy so I think we can keep it at a T. It's all more emotional then physical so don't get your knickers in a twist. Everything that happens is meant to show Adam's physical, emotional, and marital state at this point in the story. It's not there just to be there. It all holds a purpose for how he is feeling and dealing with the world. And how it is dealing with him.**

 **-I really would love some reviews and feedback. :)**

 **-I love all you readers and hope you are enjoying this as much as I am enjoying the writing process. Let me know what you think so far.**

* * *

 **"From Where I'm Standing" Schuyler Fisk**

 **From where I'm standing**  
 **You're the quiet side of the road**  
 **You're looking so lonely**  
 **And I can't stop looking at you**  
 **Your head is hanging**  
 **Trying to beat those goodbye blues**  
 **I bet you'll be fine**  
 **I bet you'll be fine**

 **I guess it's not the way**  
 **You always planned it**  
 **Looks like you're heading for a**  
 **Crash landing**  
 **That's just the way it looks**  
 **From where I'm standing**  
 **From where I'm standing**

* * *

Adam continued to sit by the fire and muse on his conversation with Chip. The young man was only twenty-three and nearly fifteen years his junior but Adam loved him like a brother, a son, and a friend all rolled into one. When the boy had shown interest in the royal hunting party Adam had been eager to raise his station and give him the life he deserved. After all, he had long outgrown his kitchen-boy days and it was no uncommon knowledge that Chip could not be contained beside the apron strings the way his mother was.

Finally, when he felt like he could wait no longer, he made his way up the stairs to the afternoon tea room. Upon arriving there, the servant at the door opened the room to him and made his announcements before returning to his previous activities of staring at the wall in abstract boredom. There was a strong chill in the air of the castle from the rainstorm billowing outside and Adam pulled his overcoat more firmly around himself as his wife and dozens of ladies of the court rose to their feet and bowed demurely in his direction. He made his way over to the table where Elizabeth still stood and kissed her gloved hand with a gentle smile in hopes of seeming contrite after their morning spat.

"Might I steal you away for a moment, my lady?"

Without a word she nodded and they made their way into the adjoining room where the doors could be closed and a large fire was already burning merrily in the grate. Adam walked over to it and continued to try and warm himself.

"Blasted rain! We'll all catch a chill at this rate and have to delay our return to Paris." he spoke conversationally as Elizabeth continued to stand in the center of the room watching him warily.

"Dearest," He murmured soothingly as he traveled a few steps in her direction. She raised her chin slightly as he considered her. She still wore the day gown and seemed to be as un-rumpled and refreshed as ever she was but there was that lurking animosity behind her eyes that he did not like. He wondered on one hand if this was the right moment to bring up the physician's words about an heir and on the other hand he wondered if this was exactly the right time to step in and intervene before things really did become difficult in their relationship.

Adam loved his wife. He absolutely loved her. He loved the curve of her neck and her willowy slim figure. He loved her full red lips and her wheat colored hair that flowed to her waist when out of it's stylings. He loved to wrap it around his arms and breath in her scent that always reminded him of summer.

Taking a deep breath, Adam pulled himself out of his thoughts and attempted to focus on her eyes. If he looked any lower then that he would be tempted to undress her in his mind before he had even approached the subject.

"What is it you wish to speak with me about, Adam?" Her voice was not abrasive or harsh nor was it inquisitive. It was as if she was too weary to give it much thought.

Adam looked around himself as if surveying the room for any aid in his cause. None was to be had, though. Finally he made his way over to the sofa nearest the fire and continued to warm his hands.

"There are a few things I would wish to discuss with you, if you are agreeable."

Behind him, Elizabeth sighed and though his back was to her he was sure he could see her eyeing the doorway for an escape.

"Won't you at least sit with me for a while, My Lady?"

Finally, she made her way and alighted softly on the sofa. After a moment by the fire he resumed his seat next to her, hoping he looked braver then he felt.

No one spoke for ages. Adam, never having been good with long periods of silence and tension adjusted his seat to face her and laid his hand on the cushion in hopes of inching it closer to hers so that he might hold it. Unfortunately, her hands were resolutely folded in her lap.

"Might I ask why you are angry with me?"

Elizabeth, revealing nothing, kept her face forward. "I am not angry with you."

Adam, tightening the girth on his patience, did not look away. "Then you are unhappy with me in some way. Why?"

Finally, with only a little loss of her composure she looked at him. "How could anyone be unhappy here with you?"

Her voice betrayed her with its sarcasm and Adam rose to his feet quickly to remain in control of his temper. He did not enjoy being mocked.

"I could not tell you." he finally answered. "Chateau de la Rose is the largest estate in my family's holding with the crown. It would be an insult to the King and my ancestors for us to reject it and yet I sense your displeasure since we left Paris last. I am unsure what course you wish of me to return your happiness."

"And if it is not in your power to affect my happiness?"

"It must be. It is my duty as your husband and Prince."

"Perhaps, those things don't matter as much to me as they used to."

"My God, woman! You are my wife! How can that not matter?" Adam took a calming breath when he realized the tone his voice was taking and continued but with more steel to his words then before.

"I am coming to you in regards to your displeasure at my company. It is not like you to remain so without at least giving me some hint as to what I have done to offend you."

"Adam, there is nothing to be said on the matter."

Her indifference was grating and Adam let his own composure slip for a moment. "Do not play any more games with me, Elizabeth." His voice was as measured as always but he had to fight to keep the growl out.

She blinked in his direction, a little startled at his intensity. Finally she rose, and walked over to the windowsill.

"Do you truly love this castle as much as you say you do?"

Adam let out a puff of air before responding. "That is a difficult question to answer. In some ways I could say yes _and_ no."

"But Chateau de la Rose was your childhood home, non?"

Adam, feeling a little confused at her change of subject nodded dumbly at her.

"You know this castle inside and out, correct?"

"Yes..." he finally took a step in her direction, wondering if her change in demeanor was a sign of surrender or tactical retreat.

"And yet you look drawn and pale and have nightmares every time we come here."

Adam shuffled his feet again a little and refused to look her in the eye. "It's not a mystery to you. You know why." He muttered sullenly.

"And you wonder why I would find displeasure in coming here?"

"That does not explain your displeasure with _me_."

"Doesn't it? You are your title, Adam. When they speak of the King's nephew and the Golden Prince of the south they speak of Chateau de la Rose. They speak of you!"

"That's not fair! I cannot help that I am a prince. And if I recall correctly that is what drew your father to me. Like a moth to the flame!"

Something of a shocked expression crossed her features. Adam rarely spoke of the contract between himself and her father when they had become engaged and it was vulgar to bring it up now.

"Then I suppose you will have to discuss your problems with my father and leave me out of it."

She turned on a soft slipper and made her way to the door, anger coming off of her in waves.

"I cannot produce an heir with your father! Though, I am sure _he_ would be more agreeable to bed then _you_ are at the moment!"

She froze with her fingers on the door handle and spun to look at him in disgust. "So that is it then?"

"What is?" He asked, scowling in her direction but aiming it inward. He was trying very hard not to picture himself with her pudgy father, the duke, naked and in bed together.

"You've come to bed me and fulfill your duty? How chivalrous of you to take time to discuss the matter of breeding with the broodmare!"

Adam was taken aback at the comparison and did not believe that she was capable of seeing their coupling in such a way. He also loathed the idea of the animalistic similarities and would have spat out distastefully.

"That is not what I meant in the slightest! There has been a winter between our beds that I wished to rectify. Nothing more vulgar then that!"

"And how convenient for you that after you seduce me you can produce an heir with only expending the minimal amount of effort!"

Adam couldn't decipher what her insult was implying but he chose to believe she was not referring to his prowess in the marriage bed.

"I am not trying to seduce you! If I were, it would not be inside this drafty sitting room. I have better taste then that!"

She gestured around herself. "Ah, but if you love this castle so, then this is as good of a room as any!"

Adam could have roared in frustration if he wasn't doing everything in his power to keep the beast in check. "What is it you want from me, Elizabeth?! Why must every conversation end in a battle!? I only came to ask for your pleasure this evening! Might I come to you tonight and end this ridiculous squabble we are always finding ourselves in?"

She didn't speak for a moment and then raised her chin in defiance. "I won't do it."

Adam was still for a moment and then lifted his eyebrows in surprise. He was shocked into silence, as a torrent of thoughts crossed his mind. He was the Prince! He was her husband! She could not deny him what he wanted! His father's voice cut through the incessant beat of her words.

' _I won't do it, I won't do it, I won't do it.'_

Prince Etienne, second son of the King of France, had had the face of a handsome scoundrel and no one knew it more than Adam. Smiling with a half-naked maid on each arm as he passed through the halls of La Chateau de la Rose he spoke to his young prince in a conspiratorial whisper.

 _'Adam, my son, there is no such thing as an unwilling woman.'_

Which, for him, was probably true. No one would dare deny his father what he had wanted if they valued their lives.

But to Adam, who had never had to even demand for a night with any woman, was at a loss and felt sick at the denial. For a flashing moment he wanted to inform her that if she was not willing to come to his bed then he would find someone who was and that it wouldn't be difficult to do so.

 _'Adam, my son, there is no such thing as an unwilling woman.'_

He felt an ache in his stomach at the rejection. She didn't want him. It wasn't just a denial of another child. It was a denial of him.

 _'I won't do it, I won't do it, I won't do it'._

Adam knew that he would not turn to another woman, though. Perhaps it was an abhorrence to being anything like his father, or perhaps he just couldn't bear any more guilt in his life. He had to somehow reason with her. Surely their marriage wasn't so far gone that they no longer desired each other.

No, that was incorrect. He desired her even in that moment. In fact, since Claude had suggested that they should consider another child, Adam's growing excitement at the prospect of coming to her had only risen up into his throat and would soon run rampant in his brain.

No, the real question was her lack of desire for him, what he had done, and what he could do to fix it.

Maintaining a steady calm he looked her square in the face. "Might I ask why you are averse to the idea?"

She didn't speak, taking an agonizingly long time to respond and refusing to look him in the face any longer. A wisp of hair had escaped the knot on her head and she impatiently tucked it back away.

"I do not wish to be with a man who longs for another."

Adam blew air through his nose and closed his eyes, praying for patience.

"Why do you keep coming back to this? She is dead! Belle is...dead." He almost had to choke on the words. He hated saying them. It burned in his chest and suffocated him. Elizabeth eyed him knowingly as if he had given himself away despite his words. Turning to him she came so close he was filled with her scent. Summer and spun sugar and some other smell he could not identify. Something that reminded him of polish and wood.

"Then why is she still here? Why have you kept her here all this time?" And with the gentlest of touches she placed her hand over his heart. He realized, once again, how much time had gone by since they had touched. It was ghastly.

Without thinking he reached for her and placed his hands on either side of her face, his fingers fanning into her hair and making a mess of it.

"Mon Soleil..." He murmured, his face so close to hers. "You. All I want is you. I miss you... Please...Please... Let me come to you tonight. I promise, you are all I want."

Without a chance to think, Elizabeth's mouth was on his. Her kiss was all-encompassing and Adam felt it down into his bones. He froze for a moment at the possessiveness. As if she was proving to them both who he really belonged to. Then, just as suddenly she pulled away but remained so close that he felt a deep ache at her proximity. The emotion passing between them was stifling and either he needed to pull her away from him to regain his composure or pull her so close that they would be locked in place forever.

"But when you have me, Adam, when I am in your bed and you are touching me, tell me. Tell me you have never thought of her. Tell me her name is not on your mouth when you are kissing me. Tell me you do not want her when you say that you only want me."

For a moment time stood still and Adam's breath had permanently left his body. The words rose in his throat. The words that would bring her to him in every way possible but he could not say them. They became stuck in his heart and no matter how he tried, the lies would not come to release her from her fears. His voice trembled and he looked into her hazel eyes and wished more than anything that he could tell her what she wanted to hear.

"Sometimes...I don't mean to... She is haunting me...I cannot help it..."

He closed his eyes and breathed heavily and his chest burned. He couldn't look at her, couldn't face the sorrow and disappointment. She immediately pulled away and he gripped his fists so tightly his fingernails dug into his skin.

He hated himself in that moment. He hated himself and wondered how he could be like this. How he could still feel this way and how he could have just said those things to her. He took several shaky breaths and snapped back to attention. And before he could even bare to open his eyes the words came tumbling out of his mouth. Anything he could say in attempt to repair the damage he just made between himself and his wife.

"Elizabeth! Soleil! I am sorry! I didn't mean what I said! I-"

But when he finally opened his eyes, she was gone. And there was no bringing her back to him now.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 **-Okay, again I remind everyone that this has a T rating. Just be aware that things happen in this chapter that might go above a ten year old's reading content.**

 **-This chapter was hard to write. I hate to see Adam in this place but I know he needs to be to get him to where he is supposed to go.**

 **-I would love some feedback on the writing style and how the story is going so far. There will be two more chapters that are connected to these ones that I will publish very soon.**

 **-Have such a wonderful week, everyone, and enjoy these. We're heading down a very interesting path and I think you're going to love where it takes us.**

* * *

 **"Volcano" Emily Hearn**

 **When you lose the one you've wanted,**

 **It's like a part of you is haunted**

 **And you're desperate for hope**

 **But the ashes and smoke are covering the ground**

 **Like a volcano, a volcano, volcano gone cold**

 **And sometimes love, love just ain't enough**

 **And sometime dreams, dreams just turn to dust**

 **Sometimes love, love just ain't enough**

 **Baby we're ashes and smoke,**

 **Like a volcano gone cold,**

 **Maybe love just ain't enough**

 **Like a volcano, a volcano, volcano gone cold**

* * *

Adam was in his study when Cogsworth and Lumiere arrived. The two advisers came upon their Prince standing ram-rod strait in front of the window to his study but could not see past his own reflection in the mirror. For outward appearances he looked well groomed and already attired in his dinner-wear. Inside, the man was an entirely different story.

"You wished to see us, Sire?"

Without preamble Adam turned himself about and faced the two men.

"Make note of some changes that will be happening in our household." When Adam took this tone everyone knew to listen with the utmost attention.

"From here on, The Anniversary of the Death of Princess Isabelle is forthwith canceled and shall not be spoken of again in my home."

Cogsworth and Lumiere had the decency to keep their mouths closed but could not keep the surprise off of their faces.

"And further more we will be leaving La Chateau de la Rose in two weeks. You have a fortnight to prepare for our departure so I suggest you inform the staff tonight for the journey."

"But, but, but, Your Highness!" Cogsworth sputtered.

" 'Ighness, we 'ave always stayed until ze Autumnal Equinox"

Adam rounded on them as if they had mortally offended his honor. "Am I the Prince or am I not!?"

Lumiere looked down demurely. "You are ze Prince, 'Ighness."

"With all the money we will save on the extravagant stupidity of The Anniversary we will have plenty to get us back to Paris and make due from there."

Cogsworth heard something in the voice of his Master that gave him pause. "I never would think that I could live to the day when you referred to her death as 'stupid'."

Adam looked away and tried to hide the deep pull to his lips that would give away how much this pained him. "She is no less dead now then thirteen years ago. Celebrating will not change that."

"Zat does not mean we do not deserve to remember 'er!" The tone was meant to be passionate but all Adam heard was the reproach and he winced imperceptibly. For a moment they stood and regarded one another as Adam's face slowly fell and he revealed for just a moment the agony his actions were causing him.

Then, spinning on his heels, he called over his shoulder, "Make the announcement tonight at dinner, Cogsworth."

Both men nodded in his direction and waited for their Prince to quit the room. When he paused at the door and grasped the handle as if it was keeping him from sinking into the floor he turned a fraction to look back at the men who were more like parents to him.

"I do not wish to remember anymore."

* * *

Dinner was eventful, to say the least. Adam barely touched his food and though Elizabeth and he sat next to each other, as always, there might have been countries of space between them. When Cogsworth gathered the entire staff together and made the announcement there were audible gasps and more than a few tears before the staff was dismissed for the remainder of the meal. The courtiers were bewildered and vaguely interested but most would return to their own estates and assume that the royal family would return the following summer as they always had. Little did they know that Adam had no intention of returning here in this life. He dared not look at Elizabeth when Cogsworth had resumed his place and wished for nothing more than to escape. The only problem was that if he put his fork down then everyone at the table must and dinner would be over. He continued to hold his spoon in a vice grip and stared at nothing on the wall seeing only the shadow of a woman with long chocolate locks and brown eyes watching him with so much sadness he wanted to sob and beg her forgiveness as he had done so many times since her death.

When he finally could bare it no more, he gently set his utensil down and wiped his mouth as if he had eaten a feast. Then rising with a tidal wave of people rising with him he took off out of the dining hall without a backward glance.

Upon arrival back into his study Adam threw himself into his work. He spent the next few hours translating documents, signing missives and reading letters. He removed his jacket and vest and, having pulled up his sleeves to his elbows, allowed the wet summer air to dance on his bare arms. After a while his mind started to grow numb from the constant scratching of his own quill. He pulled his hair out of its ribbon and raked his fingers through the auburn locks several times to make it nice and disheveled.

The clock ticked loudly and the fire grew dimmer and dimmer until the only light in the room was from the moon shining brightly above his window. His sole oil lamp burning hot next to his hand as he scratched away at a response to an Italian letter of inquiry.

Pausing for a moment he rubbed his eyes with his left hand and leaned back in his chair, just considering the idea of curling up on the sofa near the fire and sleeping what was left of the night. He wasn't sure he could bear the thought of returning to his bed and to his nightmares. He closed his eyes for a moment and heard the creak of the door being opened. Without looking he waved his hand in the direction of the intruder.

"I will dress myself tonight, Monte. You can retire for the evening."

The door closed and he assumed that whoever had entered had quickly exited at his words. He took a deep breath and prepared to soldier on for a little longer on his letter when the soft swishing of fabric met his ears and he barely had enough time to realize the proximity of the other person in the room before said person was literally in his lap, a leg straddling either side of his torso. Adam's eyes shot open and it was very apparent that it was not Monte in the room with him.

Grasping the arm rests of his chair he shook off the fatigue and was met with hazel eyes so light they could be yellow. A tidal wave of golden hair cascaded down her back and curled around her temples. It felt like a dream and yet, the way her hair tickled his bare arms felt real. Her eyes, so luminescent in the dim light, bore into him.

"Elizabeth..." He breathed trying to wake himself from the dream.

"Shhh" She whispered and touched his bottom lip which suddenly seemed too chapped for the situation he as finding himself in. He wouldn't admit it but he always liked to be a little more prepared for situations of personal contact. At least he would have liked to have had a chance to rinse his mouth and wash his face before her lips were on his but that didn't seem to be an option. One moment he was about to ask her what she was doing in his study at this time of night and then she was kissing him the way she had in the sitting room.

Her mouth was demanding and firm and she gripped the sides of his neck until it hurt. He was too stunned to respond for a moment and then coming to his senses shook his head a little bit and pulled away from her wishing that she wasn't so close to him. He couldn't think when she was in such a position on his lap and he needed to think. This was too quick. One moment she was fleeing any room he was present in and then the next she was there, her hair tumbling down around his knees and her hands slipping inside the collar of his shirt to stroke his bare shoulders.

"Elizabeth, why are you still awake?"

"Because _you_ are still awake." she whispered into his ear and he was momentarily breathless from the sound of it.

"But what are you doing in here?" He asked stupidly, knowing that he should know the answer.

She gazed at him as if steeling herself. She bit her lip in an intoxicating way and then lowered her hands from his neck and untied her dressing gown.

Adam had lived with men like Lumiere his whole life. And so situations like this weren't entirely a fantasy. But he had been the crowned prince for the better part of fifteen years and there was a semblance of honor to his sexuality. Seduction, he had reasoned, was a matter of communication and equality. He had never forced himself on a woman, let alone his wife. He, like any man, desired and felt and longed but he had never lost control. He didn't dare. He was more then what he seemed on the surface and if he ever let himself slip even a fraction he would reveal more then he wanted her to know.

Without realizing what was happening, Elizabeth shrugged off her dressing gown to reveal a total lack of clothing whatsoever. Adam gazed at her, not comprehending the situation entirely as she readjusted her position on his lap and ran her hands through his hair and down his face. The dim light in the room cast shadows over her bare back and thighs as Adam remained still as a board.

When it seemed like he was not going to move, Elizabeth rested her arms on his shoulders so that his eyes were level with her chest and tilted his head to look up at her.

"Do you want an heir or not?"

Adam swallowed a mouthful of saliva and looked about the room as if to convey his disinclination to the idea in his private study. She gazed around the room as well and then turned back to him.

"I suppose my taste does not equal yours when it comes to location."

Finally catching up with himself he grasped hold of her hands and moved them away from himself. Holding anything else on her body would have been a mistake.

"Don't you wish to discuss it first? It has not been half a day since we argued over this."

Lines formed between her eyes and her mouth arranged into a deep frown at his words.

"Do you want me, Adam?"

Taking a deep breath he looked away from her intoxicating body and then back into her eyes.

"Very much...I always want you."

"Then why won't you look at me?"

"You have...surprised me. I was not prepared for...this."

"Will you send me away?"

There was a ping to her voice that cut him and he looked helplessly at her. She had come to him as exposed as one could be and he was rejecting her.

The voice in his head whispered: _'Good! Now she can know how it feels.'_

Something about the whole situation didn't feel right. His instincts told him to send her away until they were both thinking clearly. Could he deny her? The thought sounded absurd and yet none of this felt real. Desperate, heady, and wild was not the words he would use to describe a situation with his naked wife straddling his groin.

A tear slowly made its way down her pale cheek and she looked at him through wet lashes.

"Please, Adam. Just do it. Don't send me away. Please."

It was reprehensible that such a beautiful woman whom he loved so deeply would have to plead so fervently for his physical contact. And, he reasoned, was it really all so strange? He was generally too willing to lay her down in his bed at any time she had desired.

It was just that...she had never expressed it before. The memory of her rejection and disgust at his pitiful offering that morning ricochet inside his skull. It almost refused to be smothered by the incontrollable temptation to run his hands along her bare chest. And yet, here they were.

With her face scrunched up as if her life depended on their marital act happening at that very moment, Adam let out a storm of air from his lungs. With deep uncertainty swirling in his eyes he nodded and paused just long enough to run a hand down her arm before the steely look returned to her face and she scooted even closer to him, tugging at his shirt. He didn't give himself time to think; he just plunged in with her so that she would not have to feel that rejection ever again. Adam continued to beat down the voice telling him that something very wrong was happening.

Repeating to himself the entire time: _'It will be alright, It will be alright, it will be alright...'_

* * *

It was not alright. Nothing about it was alright. Adam, having striped himself down quickly, moved them to the sofa where they both seemed to be competing in some race he didn't know he was in. It was exhausting and turbulent and at one point she was pressing on his chest as if to push him away. When he made to stop she wrenched his head closer to her face and locked him in with burning kisses, murmuring things like, "More" and "Don't stop!"

Not one to be defeated, he tried for far longer than he ever had, to match her, please her, anything to escape the rawness of their coupling. At any other time, Adam secretly prized himself on being a good lover. It was hard to say if this was true, since most men thought the same thing. Nevertheless, he had always greatly enjoyed his time with the women who shared his bed. He had assumed that they enjoyed it as well.

This was so very different from his previous experiences that he was out of his element. No matter what he did, all the touches and kisses didn't seem to shake the feeling of disapproval and anger that was coming off of Elizabeth in waves along with that ever pervading scent of wood and polish.

When he finally finished he rolled off of her, chest heaving and sweat dripping down his face. Feeling as if his entire body had been raked over coals he wrapped his arms around his torso and tried to steady his breathing. The cool air from the open window settled over his sweaty body and he shivered and finally turned to Elizabeth who had curled in on herself while tears streamed down her face. He reached for her, hoping to give and gain comfort. She flinched at his touch and he immediately pulled away.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean..." He started to stammer, breathing still coming out in gasps. Elizabeth shook her head violently and refused to meet his eyes. When he made as if to move close to her again, hoping that he could repair the damage, she sprung to her feet. Dashing to her robe she quickly wrapped herself and though Adam called to her several times she didn't turn to him. With tears still streaming down her face she rushed out of the room as quickly and as quietly as she had entered it, leaving Adam sweating, naked and all alone.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

* * *

 **ANNND here you go! I promised I would put out the next two chapters quickly and I have kept my promise. I won't always do two at a time but we needed to get these four over with. I think this will finally finish setting up for the rest of the story and we're going to get to some GOOOOOD stuff soon (not that this isn't good. It surely is!)**

 **-A couple of things I forgot: Keeping up with tradition I gave Lumiere and Babette(also known as Plumette) a french accent and no one else. It's written into his dialogue and can be interesting to read. It really helps to distinguish him from Cogsworth without having to constantly say who was talking at that point.**

 **-Adam gives pet names. He calls Elizabeth 'Mon Soleil' which is basically calling her 'My sun'. Hopefully you weren't confused in the last couple of chapters. He calls Rosamund his 'Rosebud' and Isabelle 'Beasty'. It is just a quirk I really feel like Adam would have.**

 **-I am not Catholic. I only have a basic knowledge of the religion but I really felt like Adam would have some sort of faith in God. He is a prince of France, after all. If I misrepresented the religion I apologize. It was not meant to be an insult but a compliment.**

 **-These next two chapters do touch on the issue of rape. If that is triggering for you I hope you wouldn't become too upset. No explicit details but I felt it was important to address the issue of consent in marriages. Especially marriages in this time period. Many would have danced on the line of consent and I wanted to showcase how sensitive Adam is to the topic. I also wanted to touch on the issue in the nobility of this time period as it would have been rampant in some cases of the higher class men. It's a hot button topic but that is also part of good writing, giving characters a lot of hard topics to work with. Adam has more then his fair share.**

 **-I LOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVDDDDDDDDDD all the reviews. You don't even know. I opened my email at the gym and saw four and started clapping I was so happy. The guy on the treadmill next to me thought I was really weird. PLEASE continue to review. Even just a few sentences sends my heart fluttering!**

* * *

 **"Prayer of St. Francis" Sarah McLachlan ( I realize this is the actual Prayer of St. Francis but I loved how Sarah put it to music. It's beautiful)**

 **Lord make me an instrument of your peace,**  
 **Where there is hatred let me sow love.**  
 **Where there is injury, pardon.**  
 **Where there is doubt, faith.**  
 **Where there is despair, hope.**  
 **Where there is darkness, light.**  
 **And where there is sadness, joy.**

 **O divine master grant that I may**  
 **Not so much seek to be consoled as to console;**  
 **To be understood as to understand;**  
 **To be loved as to love**  
 **For it is in giving that we receive-**  
 **It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.**  
 **And it's in dying that we are born to eternal life.**  
 **Amen**

* * *

There was no sleep to be had for the remainder of that night. The next morning Adam finally drug himself out of the study and stumbled his way into his bedroom where his valet was waiting for him. He called for a bath and sat in the water until his skin lost its color and everything started to get cold around him. He scrubbed and mumbled to himself and threw bars of soap at the wall. He even began to wonder if this has where his father's madness had started.

Several times Cogsworth and Lumiere had tried to come and speak with him but he had claimed he was not decent enough for conversation, which was true. If he refused to get dressed they could not possibly insist on discussing matters of state with his manhood staring them down.

Then again, this _was_ Lumiere...

He felt a deep numbness settle in and did not know which was worse, that or the ever increasing guilt. By lunchtime he had thoroughly convinced himself of his villainy. Her tears, the way her body had curved in on itself in shame, the way she had tried to push him away were all signs of his repugnant behavior. Never mind that she had come to him or that she had seemed so eager at the time. He must have missed something in his haste. Something that told him where his error had occurred and he could not decipher where the line was drawn between coupling and rape. He had taken advantage of her somehow and she had suffered for his stupid, thoughtless mistake.

Finally allowing himself to be dressed in as comfortable clothing as he possessed he quietly made his way to the chapel, taking the longer route to avoid anyone who might distract him from his purpose.

When he reached the gilded room he stopped at the nave and gazed inside, hoping that no one else would be there to witness his guilt.

Surveying the room, he came to the confessional box but was loath to go inside. It was confining and entirely too small for his large frame and it made the animal instinct inside him nervous and jittery.

It also didn't help that he had not come to confession in years.

Finally, blowing out a large breath of resentment, he opened the door and stepped inside, releasing the latch on the window.

The window opposite also opened but Adam did not turn his head to gaze at the man sitting opposite.

"Forgive me Father, for I am sin."

His words were so quiet that Father Donovan had to take a moment to process what his Prince had just uttered.

"You _are_ sin? Or you _have_ sinned?"

"Both"

"My my, I did not realize I would be hearing the confession of the Prince of Darkness today. I would have worn the better robes."

"Do not mock me today, Father."

The sound in Adam's voice was enough to gain all of Father Donovan's attention.

"It was meant only in jest, Your Highness. You could not possibly be the incarnation of sin. You may have piled up a few, as we all do, in your absence from confession. But I doubt you are so far gone as all that."

"Your words of comfort are wasted on me. I am in turmoil and in need of guidance."

"Clearly nothing less would have driven you to my humble doors."

"Father, is it possible to have done something terrible without realizing you were doing it, until it was done?"

"Yes, I believe we often find ourselves sinning even without our total awareness, though we must still take responsibility."

"Even when there was no ill intent involved?"

"Our intentions do not always align with God's will. We must remove our intentions and desires so that we may better serve his purposes."

Adam finally looked up into the old priest's eyes. "How can you believe that after all we have been through? Was living ten years as an alter ornament not enough to convince you of God's disdain for us? Or was that also part of His will?"

"Are you harboring resentment towards God's will or towards yourself when you say such things?"

"Again, I say both! We have witnessed the darkest side of this world. Magic that could not be undone by your prayers and piety! Can you still preach of God's will when there is such powerful evil in this world that neither you nor I can deny?"

"I can and I do. Who are we to question what His will is for us? We are alive to this day and miracles have been wrought in your stead! Who are you to question otherwise when you and I both know of such goodness in this world?"

"What goodness?!"

"Belle!"

They stared at one another through the slatted window of the confessional box as Adam gulped for air in the confining space. The name echoed in his mind and he gazed at his priest in misery.

Father Donovan did not mean to be cruel but he would not stand for his Prince to question his own faith and not utilize every tool available to him.

"And no amount of raging and canceling celebrations in her honor will change that. How you _dare_ try and erase her and in the same breath claim God's mercy does not work in your stead?"

Breaking eye contact Adam swallowed and turned his face away, sufficiently humbled. "You are right."

With a sigh to control his righteous indignation, Father Donovan also turned his face away from the man swimming in his own agony beside him. "What is your confession, my son?"

"I think I may have done something terrible."

"Tell me your sins."

And without any fight left in him, Adam told his priest everything. The anger and resentment he felt coming back to La Chateau de la Rose, his nightmares, his longing for Belle to this very moment, the fight in the sitting room, and everything that had happened the previous night. Adam did not flinch or shy away from any detail trying to purge his soul of what had happened between himself and Elizabeth. When he had talked himself into silence he wrung his hands and sat churning in his own emotions feeling as if he had vomited out the contents of his stomach and still felt ill afterwards.

Father Donavan was at a loss of words for the situation. He gazed at the prince, remembering all the forms this man had taken to get him to this point. A petulant boy, a hulking beast, and now a lost young man.

"You must go to your wife now and make reconciliation. That is your penance."

"How can I do this when I must have wronged her so?"

"You have come to seek God's forgiveness, now you must seek hers as well. Go to the garden, cut the freshest roses that have bloomed, take them to her and accept whatever punishment she sees fit."

"And this will be fixed?"

"It is as good of a place to start as any."

"I do love her, Father... I did not mean to hurt anyone."

"Then accept that there is more happening in your favor then we can see with our own eyes. God has a purpose for you yet, Adam. He has not forgotten your pain or your sacrifices. Make things right with your wife."

Adam nodded, completed his confession and trotted out of the chapel as fast as his feet could carry him still feeling drawn and anxious but hopeful nonetheless.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

 **Okay, guys! This baby is going to be a tough one. I had a hard time writing it and I imagine you will have a hard time reading it.**

 **-One reviewer wrote in their review this week about trying to imagine what kind of state Elizabeth's self esteem was in. I want you all to do the same when reading this. She's not doing too good. Neither of them are. Just remember that as you are reading.**

 **-Again, this chapter dances on some tough topics and it's meant to make you think. It's also meant to propel Adam into a certain direction and so it's necessary for this to be kind of ugly.**

 **-As in the original and new movies, I wanted to touch on Adam's residual abilities. He was a beast for a long time and has tried to keep it hidden from his new family. Sometimes that beast comes out as it will in this chapter. I didn't want you to be confused.**

 **-You guys...I am having so much fun with this story and am dancing out of my skin waiting for you to read the next part after this chapter! So many cool things are about to happen. I will post again sometime this week with a new chapter. Until then, I really hope you enjoy the way this is going and let me know EVERYTHING you are thinking. I love every review I get and read them about a hundred times each!**

* * *

 **"Breathing Underwater" Metric (There is an acoustic cover version of this that I like better but this was the original artist)**

 **I'm a blade, you're the knife**  
 **I'm a weight, you're the kite**  
 **They were right when they said**  
 **We should never meet our heroes**  
 **When they bowed at their feet**  
 **In the end it wasn't me**

 **Nights are days**  
 **We beat a path through the mirrored maze**  
 **I can see the end**  
 **But it hasn't happened yet**  
 **I can see the end**  
 **But it hasn't happened yet**

 **Is this my life?**  
 **Am I breathing underwater?**

 **Am I breathing underwater?**

* * *

Adam had the roses. He had changed and pulled his hair back and by the time he had submitted to a few bites of whatever his man was trying to shovel into his mouth, he made his way to Elizabeth's quarters. He knew it was a thing of fashion for the royalty to have separate rooms but he still wished that his wife was housed closer to him. He didn't like the distance.

Upon arriving, a maid answered the door with a look of astonishment on her face.

"Is the Princess in her rooms?"

"She is not, your Highness. We thought she was still with you."

"With me?"

"Aye, we... We were informed that she was coming to you last night and when she did not return... Your Highness?"

But Adam was already striding away from the door. He had to find her. Horrible possibilities swam in his head of what she must be going through. Once the door to her stay rooms was shut he closed his eyes and for the first time in a long time, gave way to the beast. The animal was always there, lurking just outside his consciousness. But as soon as Adam relinquished some of that control the animal snapped into his focus. When he opened his eyes his vision was a little sharper, his hearing a little more intense.

The scent of every person that had been down this hallway lingered like a heavy perfume. Adam sniffed for several moments searching for the right scent. Sunshine and summer was the best way he knew how to describe her. She had been down here a few hours ago. She still smelled of sweat and fire smoke and that subtle wood and polish that he was starting to associate along with her other scents.

Without giving himself much time to think he made off down the hallway in search of his lost wife. He had to stop several times to get his bearings and continued to sniff like a dog in every direction, still clutching his fistful of roses.

He walked for what felt like ages until he finally halted to take in his surroundings and found himself in none other than the East wing. Pausing for a moment to ascertain how he had gotten there he let his rose-carrying arm go limp.

Frustrated with himself, he kicked an unsuspecting end table and let it clatter to the opposing wall. He rarely let himself exhibit any symptoms of his former curse and took great pains to restrain any residual abilities. Then, the one time he did allow himself to let go, in favor of finding the woman that he loves, what does he do? He leads himself to the last place he would ever find her.

The East wing had been shut off for years. It was dusty and old and untouched. Adam had never been able to bare clearing it out and it had remained in the exact state it was the morning Belle had left it, seven months with child and waddling to his carriage to follow him off the ends of the earth.

Adam made a turn as if to go when something stopped him. It wasn't a sound, per se. More of an echo of a feeling. If he had still possessed hackles they would have risen at that precise moment. He turned back around and faced the large double doors of Belle's stay rooms and paused. He had not gone into these rooms for years and wondered if perhaps he would find ghosts inside for that was the strange feeling he was getting.

Not always being the smartest of men, he couldn't let it stand that something did not feel right. Perhaps it was nothing but he would have to face her stay rooms someday and if something was amiss he wanted to be the one to handle the situation.

Turning the knob on the door he closed his eyes and walked into the large bedroom suite.

Time stood still as he gazed about the room. It was exactly as he had remembered. The drapes were half closed, her nightstand still held a vase of withered dead roses with their petals turned to dust. The chair to her vanity still pulled out with her hair brush still containing a massive amount of fading brown hair. There were even several of her shoes and dresses scattered about the room where she had mindlessly tossed them, trying to find anything that would fit her protruding stomach.

Indeed, everything was in its right place where it would stay until doomsday.

Except the bed.

There was something entirely out of place on the large bed.

This was due to the fact that there was someone inside it.

* * *

There was a time when Adam was nearly nine, about the age when his family had fallen completely apart. His mother had died several years prior and his father, who had never been a kind or compassionate man, was only a year or two from going completely mad.

Before that time, Prince Etienne was still terrorizing just about everyone and everything on his way to madness. Adam, being the heir and prince sixth in line to the throne had not had much say in any matter, but was still lucky enough to witness everything from his impressionable standpoint.

On one particular night that was not anything particular at all, the household was having dinner. The staff was in their usual places, Adam and what remained of his family were seated in their usual spots, and the food had been nothing to be noted upon.

When dinner began everyone was informed that Adam's father was disposed of and would not be coming to dinner. So it had been a bit of a surprise when he had shown up unannounced at the table and it put the servants into a panic trying to get him seated. If Adam recalled correctly, several lost their positions that night.

There had been a girl present at that time. Adam had never been sure of where she had come from or who she was. Perhaps a ward of the castle or a lesser noble; seemingly bright and airy. Adam's father, Etienne the Mad as they had called him in those days, had taken a special interest in her and she had done her upmost best to dissuade his attentions.

Apparently his father had been drinking that night because her well intentioned distractions did not work on this night. After a small amount of verbal exchange had occurred the Master of the castle, apparently, had enough of her tender-hearted rejections.

With the entire household and his young impressionable son to watch, Adam's father had stood with a meaningful glare that threatened to put the poor girl out if she did not comply. She was obviously terrified and looked about the room for some assistance but there was none to be had. No one spoke for her and she was forced to take his hand where he led her drunkenly to the chaise at the far end of the dining hall and raped her in front of everyone sitting at the dining table.

Most stared at their food and continued their fake conversations as if nothing was happening. It was not worth their lives to intervene.

Adam, on the other hand was horrified. He was not well versed in the ways of the world and thus was not entirely certain what was happening. But the desperate and agonizing look on the girl's face was permanently burned into his memory. The sounds of her muffled sobs and his father's heaving moans. The sight of what he was doing to her was enough to scar Adam for the rest of his life. He had turned his face away in shock and tried to block out the sounds until it was over.

* * *

In the moment when he realized who was in his deceased wife's bed, Adam was transported back to that moment. Frozen and terrified he turned his face away as if to block it out, realizing that he had stumbled upon something that was going to scar him once again for the rest of his life.

"Adam!" Elizabeth's voice was shrill and embarrassed as the bed squeaked in protest while the occupants struggled to cover themselves.

Regaining his composure Adam faced the couple once more and came upon two very surprised expressions.

"What are you doing here?" she spoke to him again with an air of accusation in her tone.

Adam didn't speak. He only stared at the man lying in Belle's bed. Until that moment, Adam had been the only man to lie in that bed. It had been a gift from the Earl of La Rochelle to the Princess on her coronation. Adam could only stare as he realized that even that was now taken from him.

"I know you..." He murmured quietly, gripping the roses till the heads started to fall off at his feet.

"Yes, sire."

Taking a quick breath he let out a laugh that sounded unnatural to his own ears. "Ah, how very polite of you. ' _Yes, sire.'_ Your mother taught you well!"

"Adam, let me explain!" Elizabeth now clutched the sheets to her bare chest.

"Was this because I kicked you?"

The man in the bed started to shake his head and this sprung Adam into action. Hurling what was left of the roses at the wall, they made a dull thud as they hit the floor. Then dashing to the side of the bed he gripped Jacque's bare arm tightly and tore him out of the covers.

Regaining his balance the young man tried to cover his nakedness with his arm and Adam inhaled the scent of wood and polish so strong it was blinding.

Elizabeth made a small squeaking noise and looked between the two men standing at the foot of the bed.

"Well, go ahead then." Adam whispered into Jacque's face.

"Ahead with what?" he replied with fear rolling off his skin in waves.

"Kick me!"

Jacque shook his head emphatically.

"It's only fair. I kicked you."

"It was an accident, sire."

"Kick me!"

"Adam, stop!"

"Please, sire. I'm sorry!"

Adam bore his teeth at the mere slip of a man he was gripping. More of a boy then a man, really. Crouching at Adam's feet with a rag and a bottle of polish in his hands as Lumiere had waved at him threatening to release chamber maids on him as a punishment.

A servant boy.

A footman.

He made a growling noise and knew that Jacque was on the verge of tears and possibly urinating on himself. The beast in Adam urged it on.

 _Tear, ripe, snarl!_

"Was it your first time? Lumiere said you were not acquainted in the ways of the world. We wouldn't want to make my Head of House a liar, would we?"

"I didn't mean for it to happen... Please...have mercy..."

"Adam, let him go!" Elizabeth's voice shook and Adam paused. When his eyes focused on the boy again, he realized that if he saw past the red haze crying for Jacque's blood he looked exactly like that girl from his memory. Staring at him from across his father's thrusting shoulders, begging anyone to rescue her. And he had done nothing.

Releasing the servant boy's arm he took a step back and surveyed him in all his nudity. "I trust you know where the cellar is?"

Jacque nodded as the tears finally started to slip down his cheeks.

"Good. Find your way there."

Without having to be told twice Jacque snatched his clothing off the chair next to the door and was out of the room, naked as the day he was born.

"The cellar?!" Elizabeth cried indigently.

"Be glad I did not say the tower!"

"Don't hurt him!"

"You are in no position to give me orders!" Adam gazed at her on the bed and hated her in that moment more than he had hated anything in his life.

"Why her rooms? You could have gone anywhere...Why would you choose here?"

"It was the only place I was sure you would never look."

"Are you sure it had nothing to do with the fact that they were _hers!"_

"I don't care that they were hers! I care that they still _belong_ to her!"

"They belong to me! All of this belongs to me! YOU belong to ME!"

"And _you_ belong to me!"

With a softer voice then he knew he was capable of, Adam felt his heart quicken as every time he blinked he saw the image of the two of them together in Belle's bed.

"Elizabeth... She's dead. Why couldn't you have just learned to share me...with a ghost?"

"How does it matter? Share yourself with anyone you want! You're the prince. You can have any other woman-"

"YOU WERE THE OTHER WOMAN!" Adam screamed in a voice that did not sound like his own.

Elizabeth shrank against the headboard at his loss of temper and whimpered as though he had struck her.

With genuine fear in her voice, her rosy lip trembled. "Adam, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"Not as sorry as you're going to be."

Again that same fear that Jacque had on his face was what she was giving to him now. He was a monster to her. Her captor and there was nothing either of them could do about it now.

"What are you going to do me?"

"Elizabeth, this is treason. Don't you understand that you have committed treason? What do you think they are going to make me do to you!? To our children!?"

At this Elizabeth went pale and it would seem that the full weight of her actions _finally_ settled on her.

"Adam, please-"

"Get dressed! Go to your rooms. You are not to leave for any reason until I return."

"Where are you going?"

"You are no longer privy to that information!"

"Adam, please don't leave me!

But he was already out the door and down the corridor in hopes to get as far away from her echoing sobs as he could.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

* * *

 **-Oooooohhh I am so excited for you to read these next two chapters. They were actually only suppose to be one but I had to split it up or it would have been really long. They are basically the same concept with just enough tone difference to be interesting on their own.**

 **\- I've never been to the forest of Compiègne but I hear it is amazing! I am putting that forest near where I pictured the castle to have been in the original movie.**

 **-This is my "prince in disguise" trope, with Adam taking a jaunt in the woods, dressed up as a huntsman. It wouldn't be a fairy tale without some royal pretending to be something they aren't.**

 **-I am in mad love with my reviewers. You guys are amazing! I love how in depth you go and all the interesting details you pick up. Sometimes its even things I didn't think of when I was writing it. I soak up those words like man dying of thirst! Please DON'T STOP! I love them! It makes me want to post things so much faster then I had originally intended. Thank thank thank you! Please keep reviewing.**

* * *

 **Think Twice-Eve 6**

 **What is it you really want**  
 **I'm tired of asking**  
 **You're gone I'm wasted**

 **When I showed up and he was there**  
 **I tried my best to grin and bear**  
 **And took the stairs but didn't stop at the street**  
 **And as we speak I'm going down**

 **Cause she spread her love**  
 **And burnt me up**  
 **I can't let go**  
 **I can't get out**  
 **I've said enough**  
 **Enough by now**  
 **I can't let go**  
 **I can't get out**

* * *

Chip was very rudely awakened by a soft snarl in the dark and someone kicking the frame of his bed. Jerking awake he blinked in the darkness trying to find out the cause of the noise.

"When are you leaving for the hunt?"

Adam. Only Adam could sound that angry at whatever ungodly hour it could be.

"Mmmm , I suppose _now_. I already seem to be awake!"

"Good. Get dressed and I will meet you within the hour at the supply stable."

"Adam...What changed your mind?"

Adam only turned and looked at Chip as if he had asked something he could not begin to explain. Opening his mouth a few times he finally shrugged in a very un-princely way and then exited Chip's room.

* * *

The trip down through the forest was mostly uneventful. When they arrived in the first surrounding village on the north side they came to a spacious inn. Adam and his two men, dressed in their borrowed Lincoln green, made themselves comfortable. After brooding for some time Adam seemed to come to some conclusion to get stone cold drunk. Chip had rarely seen his master drink anything stronger then wine and had no idea what he would look like drunk.

He soon found out. After causing two tavern brawls with both his men receiving blunt blows to the face, Chip finally drug Adam out bodily into the cool late August air before they were all forced to leave the tavern permanently.

There was a semblance of struggle in him but since he was too drunk to have many of his faculties left it was barely worth Chip's efforts to hold him down. It was there; face down in the dirt that the highest of the high of France confessed to his lowly kitchen boy that he had been thoroughly humiliated. Chip sat in silence as Adam slurred out horrible words of betrayal and anger and then vomited everything else out as well.

Chip held his Prince's hair and said as many soothing things as he dared, trying not to laugh at how poorly Adam was at holding his drink.

* * *

The next morning found everyone but Chip hung over as hell and humbled. Adam stumbled out of the large chair he had been sleeping in. When they had been removed from the Inn, Chip had been forced to find accommodations elsewhere. Adam rubbed his neck and his pounding temples and surveyed his two men on the floor and Chip spooning porridge into his mouth, eyeing him warily.

"Morning." Adam mumbled groggily and looked at his own bowl of porridge as if it was something foul. There was silence before Adam finally broke the awkwardness.

"Forgive me for my actions last night. I hope I didn't say anything I would regret later."

Chip nodded into his food and rubbed the hair on his face thoughtfully. "You passed out fairly quickly. Not much time to embarrass yourself, really, so no harm done."

Adam seemed to look relieved at the lie and even gave Chip half a smile. "Thank you, then."

With a promise to the innkeeper to never return to that particular inn the group set off and there was nothing else said on the matter. Soon they all fell into the rhythm of the hunt. Adam often hung back from the actual hunting, claiming his rheumatism acting up. In reality hunting made him uneasy. The animal inside him was dying to go out but he feared that if he gave in, really gave in, he would not be able to reign it back in again.

They saw various villages and talked with a great many people on the way. On their last day they came to a small village on the south side of the forest leading up to the castle. Adam had been dreading this leg of the journey most of all and wanted to persuade his group to continue on the long way around. But upon inspection of Chip and his men he knew they would have to stop for the night.

Chip prodded his horse to the left side of Adam.

"Is there something wrong, My Prince?"

"No, I just want to get to the inn."

Adam glanced over the ridge. There was a small cottage that had been built up there in the fourteen years since Adam had been here. He cursed them for fools. Didn't they know that ridge was cursed? He blinked away the memories. Crumbling cliff sides, broken carriages, lightening, and the talons of the old oak pulling them all down to hell.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

* * *

 **-I had a devil of a time picking the right song lyrics for these chapters! I want things to really match up even though I realize that it's not actually important to the story at all. I listen to so much music I don't think I would be able to write without a song lyric going through my head.**

 **-Not much else to comment on this chapter. It will set up some really cool stuff in the next three chapters which then sets up for the next ten or so after that. I am so excited to see how this snowballs! I hope you are too!**

* * *

 **Hurts Like Hell- Fleurie**

 **I don't want them to know the secrets** **  
** **I don't want them to know the way I loved you** **  
** **I don't think they'd understand it, no** **  
** **I don't think they would accept me, no**

 **I loved and I loved and I lost you** **  
** **I loved and I loved and I lost you** **  
** **I loved and I loved and I lost you** **  
** **And it hurts like hell** **  
** **Yeah it hurts like hell**

* * *

That night there was great revelry at the inn. Early celebrations for the autumnal equinox.

"Pegans!" Adam muttered under his breath and one of his men laughed and patted him hard on the back.

Not long into the night an unusually blessed bar maid made her way over to Adam and his men. He, having already consumed two mugs of warm ale, was feeling rather drowsy and sinking into his drunken broodiness. All he could see in his mind was that ridge. The sheer ugly cliff's face with thick fog rising up from the river to hide its treachery. Part of him had known they would inevitably pass by this place again but at the time he had been too blind with rage to care. Now he silently berated Chip for being too young to remember his history here and at himself for being too stupid to think clearly. The cool night air drifted into the tavern bringing with it strange smells that tingled his senses and sorely tempted his resolve to stay put. He looked over at the maid who was earning her piece of gold she would receive tomorrow morning after she captured one of his party. Any drunker, Adam mused, and it might be him.

Chip smiled at her obvious flirtations and noticed how tactfully she loosened the strings on her corset to free her obvious bosom. Very close to Adam's face. Chip would have missed it if he hadn't been staring directly at them himself. If she only knew who she was flaunting herself onto this entire town would go into a massive uproar. Chip almost wished Adam would take the bait. If anyone deserved a balm it was his Master. And if the man wasn't so damn honorable and proud Chip wouldn't have to feel as concerned that Adam might do himself an injury.

Perhaps it was his own torrid past, but Chip felt an overwhelming protectiveness to his Sovereign. He felt devastated for Adam and wished there was anything he could do to sooth his turmoil. Surely a comfortable romp with such a willing partner would be a good place to start but Adam remained stoic and stared at the fire having none of the revelry.

"...But of course you will be careful to avoid the witch!" The girl exclaimed, having made her way over to Adam's guard when her efforts proved fruitless with the auburn haired giant lounging near the fire.

Adam immediately looked up at her with interest upon hearing the word 'witch'.

"Where?" He spoke for the first time that evening. The wench gave him a seductive look and smiled coyly.

"Up on that ridge. Surely you saw her cottage when you came into town. She lives up there with her son and on nights like these we must lock our doors in case she comes to steal away our souls in the night."

"Have you ever seen her before?"

The girl looked a bit perplexed that her frightening tale seemed to be giving the opposite attentions she had been seeking from Adam. However, she soldiered on anyway. "Only when she comes to sell her wares at the marketplace. She keeps her face covered so that innocent victims will not notice her disfigurement and know her for who she truly is."

"How do you know she is disfigured if she keeps her face covered?"

"Why else would she do it?"

"Perhaps she has a condition of the skin which prevents her from exposing it to the elements."

This seemed to stump the bar maid. She looked at Adam as if she was suddenly realizing that whatever gold she could get from lifting her skirts for him wasn't quite worth the conversation she would have to give to get him there.

"Or perhaps an entire village of people are not wrong when they say they have seen her working her evil magic from the time she came to our peaceful village."

As if to solidify her point she leaned in so that her bosom was almost totally exposed to the men facing her. "She lives on the ridge where they say the beautiful Princess Isabelle fell to her death when the cliff-side crumbled underneath her carriage. They say those who walk those paths are pulled down by her spirit. I, myself, have heard the ghosts calling on nights such as these from the bottom of the ravine. Have you heard the stories, monsieur?"

Adam glowered at the fire and then abruptly came to his feet. His guards knew better then to rise with him and give away his ownership of them but they both twitched in anticipation of following him. Adam signaled for them to stay put and join in whatever debauchery they desired.

"Yes, I do believe I have heard the stories, mademoiselle. If you will excuse me."

Chip shot to his feet and was at Adam's side so quickly it made several heads turn. Grasping Adam's arm as tightly as he dared he leaned in so that not a soul but Adam would hear his voice. With shock in his eyes he addressed his Master as he would his own sibling.

"How could you not tell me this was the same village?!"

Adam looked away in great pain he could barely mask. "How could you not already know?!"

"I was nine! It is not as if my mother brought me here for a casual visit!"

"You knew it was a sleepy little village, you knew it was a sheer ravine from which she fell, and you knew it was near here! What more did you need to deduce the information!"

"How about your honesty!? I could use a little of that right now!"

"You are entirely out of line, boy!"

"No, _you_ are out of line! You didn't say anything on purpose! Well, here is some honesty for you! YOU are not the only one who misses her more then you can breathe!"

With that Chip released Adam and stalked away to the bar to order himself more ale. He knew he would pay for his words in the morning but as of that night he would let it stand between them.

Adam had not actually kept his silence on purpose. They would be home the next day and he would have to face Elizabeth and making a terrible choice for her future. Her foray with a servant would spread like wildfire and he would not be able to stop it. Soon everyone would know how easily she had strayed from him and then his hands would be tied.

However, he had not intentionally tried to use or abuse Chip. He had only thought of getting away. He did know how desperately the boy missed Belle. They had been the closest of friends to one another and Adam was not sure if Chip had ever fully recovered from her violent removal of his life.

* * *

Adam did not sleep that night. He didn't drink anymore either but after listening to several bar wenches discuss, in detail, the things they would like to do with that _"Roughish Prince Adam"_ and _"Is he really as devilishly handsome as everyone always said?"_ he had sorely had enough. He curled up next to the fire in his room until the last ember blazed out of existence.

Like a man possessed, he dressed himself in a warmer jerkin and made his way out of the inn through the tavern. He walked down the dirt road of the quiet town where no one was stirring but him. The light from the sky was blossoming in the east and it rose over the crest of the ridge. He was not sure how or when he arrived but found himself on the lip of the ridge looking down at what ended the life he had loved so well.

Without knowing how, he felt himself come to the end of something. The end of the solace he received in the arms of his Elizabeth. The end of the weight of his country and position baring down on his shoulders. And, perhaps even, the end of all his happiness when he returned to La Chateau de la Rose. And in those moments of finality he let himself sink into despair for just a moment.

He longed for Belle and the life they had once known. Oh God, did he miss her! In that moment he would have given almost anything to be with her again. He wondered at the possibilities of hurling himself off the chasm and if he would be granted a glimpse of her on his way down to Hell.

Even a glimpse would be more then he could have ever dreamed of.

For one aching moment he considered it. It wouldn't take much just a little step forward and a quick drop and it would be over. He would be free. It should have been him that fell with that carriage. His men had pulled him out first and he had tried desperately to pull her with him but they had been too strong and had wrenched him away from danger before returning to retrieve her. Her body had been too awkward, the winds too great to get a steady grip on her. If he had only sat on the other side of her, they would have pulled her out first. He would have been able to climb up the precipice. He would have been able to hold on long enough for the guards to reach him. She was not as strong and had been too frightened.

If only, if only, if only.

For what could have been hours or even days he stood on those crumbling rocks and stared down to the river below. When he had finally exhausted himself of all the torrid emotions one soul could possibly expend, he turned himself back towards the village. The last thing he noticed, before the gale force winds of what could only be described as fate knocked him off his balance and right over the edge of the cliff, was the pale puffs of smoke peeking out of the little cottage of the witch.

* * *

 **Dun Dun Dunnnnnnnnn! I can't wait to post the next chapter! Review Review Review Please and I will have it up as soon as I can!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

* * *

 **-As it's Sunday and I am sure a lot more people are reading right now then they would on a Tuesday night I couldn't wait any longer and had to post a chapter.**

 **-GUYS! I am SOOOO excited about this one. Things have finally started to get interesting and this is one of my favorite chapters I have written.**

 **-Adam and Chip are my absolute favorite characters to write but I honestly can't take much credit for them as they are technically a creation of Disney. BUT this chapter introduces my favorite character that I created all by myself. You are going to love them. They are important to the story and will appear here and there when you least expect them!**

 **-There is a nod to Gaston in this chapter. I wish there was some way to include him but, alas, he is very dead... So I sneak him in whenever I can.**

 **-I had such an awesome review this week from a Guest and I wanted to thank them personally! I love how detailed and interesting all of your reviews are. They make it hard for me to not post a chapter a day. Please keep them coming!**

* * *

 **"House of Gold" Twenty-One Pilots**

 **(I don't know why the format on the lyrics turned out so stupid. BUT I had to add a Twenty-One Pilots song. It matches this new character and I just love them)**

 **Let's say we up and left this town,**  
 **And turned our future upside down.**  
 **We'll make pretend that you and me,**  
 **Lived ever after happily.**

 **She asked me, "Son, when I grow old,**

 **Will you buy me a house of gold?**

 **And when your father turns to stone,**  
 **Will you take care of me?"**

 **I will make you queen of everything you see,**

 **I'll put you on the map,**  
 **I'll cure you of disease.**

 **And since we know that dreams are dead,**

 **And life turns plans up on their head,**  
 **I will plan to be a bum,**  
 **So I just might become someone.**

* * *

Before Adam even had a human chance to register that he was falling the Beast took over his brain immediately and twisted around like a demon hell-cat. Slamming against the wall of the cliff he used his tender and feeble human hands to claw at the surface while quickly gaining momentum as he made his decent down to purgatory.

The cruelest of ironies was that the ill-fated tree which had been torn asunder by lighting and drug his beloved wife to her death had a second half that had survived the massacre those thirteen years ago. Growing from the crags of the rock, the remaining half of the tree clung its roots deep to the cliff face and was the first thing Adam was able reach out for and grasp for dear life.

For several moments he hung there, dangling above the bottom. Then like a monkey in terror he climbed his way up the branches quickly and felt his weight pulling down on the aging tree roots. He searched around frantically, letting whatever whines and yips to slip out as they may while he looked for a way back up to the top. The rock wall was smooth from years of rain and almost impossible to climb without some way to hold to the surface. Adam grasped onto the branch, trying to find a way to leap back up to the edge of the cliff. The aid of his former tail would have been greatly appreciated at that moment. As would a set of claws.

Adam tried to remain still to keep the tree from rocking even further out of its perch.

"Merde!" He whispered before looking up to the sky as if anyone was listening to him.

"Where are your miracles now, priest?" he muttered and cursed loudly as he externally fought to stay alive and internally fought the animal in him to remain calm.

"God," He murmured once more, this time trying to give some credit where it was due. "If this is a cruel joke, your point has been made. I don't want to die...Please...Belle, I don't want to die yet..."

He closed his eyes for a moment, inwardly regretting every stupid decision that had led him to this point. He would have stayed that way for a while longer, hoping his decrepit tree would keep when something hard and pointed thumped into the back of his head.

Adam craned his neck around to see the brownest eyes looking down on him over the edge of the cliff. He blinked several times thinking perhaps he was hallucinating. Perhaps he was dreaming and now instead of him straining over the cliff to rescue Belle, she was straining over the cliff to rescue him. When he opened his eyes again he realized it was actually a pale faced boy staring down at him through those brown eyes.

"Grab the stick, Monsieur!"

Adam blinked several times back up at the boy holding a stick that was reaching down the cliff to drag him back up. The boy's head was held up directly in front of the sun and to Adam it looked as if he had a halo of light surrounding his crown of unruly brown hair.

Adam could only stare for several moments as the boy shoved the stick further and further towards Adam and strained his body over the edge of the cliff to save him.

"Monsieur!"

Adam shook his head to clear the light from his eyes. "What is your name?"

The boy cocked his head to the side as if entirely perplexed by the calm demeanor of a man who had just bodily toppled over a cliff.

Finally he responded, his breath coming a little labored as he continued to reach further down the cliff. "Gabriel. What is yours, Monsieur?"

Adam smiled at the irony of the boy's name. "Adam."

"Would you like to come up from that tree, Monsieur Adam?"

"I would. Unfortunately, your stick will not hold my weight. You will come right down here with me."

"I think I would prefer to stay up here, if it's all the same."

"I don't suppose you brought along a length of rope you could tie to that tree over there?"

Gabriel looked around himself and then spotted the tree Adam was speaking of. He smiled a wide smile at Adam that seemed to light up the whole sky. He disappeared from the mouth of the cliff and his footfalls echoed for a while till it was once again silent. Adam waited for what felt like eternity. At one point the tree groaned deeply with his weight and he wondered if the boy had really been an apparition and had now vanished into thin air.

Quite suddenly Gabriel reappeared to Adam's view and he let a breath escape in relief.

"I do hope you know how to tie your knots!" Adam shouted up and the boy let out a barking laugh that he had not expected. Then Gabriel began to lower the rope down the cliff.

Adam grasped it and tested his weight as he stood up on the branch. It seemed to be holding him and without even thinking to look down again at the chasm below he started to make the climb. When he was in reaching distance of Gabriel, the boy wrapped his arms around Adam's middle without so much as a 'how-to-do' and bodily drug him onto the grass. Adam flopped onto his side next to the boy and was surprised at how young Gabriel looked from this vantage point. He couldn't be more then thirteen. They peered at one another and it would seem the boy was searching desperately in Adam's eyes for something. His worried expression was strange to Adam, as if strangers often looked at him so deeply and with so much concern.

"Monsieur Adam, are you alright?"

"I'm...not sure."

"Were you trying to jump?"

"No...No I don't believe so."

"Did you not realize you were standing on the ridge? It's dangerous to stand so close. My mother said the wind will sweep you right down to the river below."

"It did feel like hands were pulling me down."

"How did you manage to catch the tree?"

"I think it caught me."

"You are either very fortunate or very unfortunate."

"Can you be both at the same time?"

Gabriel cocked his head to the side and smiled again at Adam as if this simple conversation was not being carried on as they lay on their backs, breathing hard.

"I believe you are more fortunate than unfortunate." He paused for emphasis, "Though I would avoid very high places from now on, just in case."

Then, as if some spell had been broken they both burst into laughter that somehow complimented one another.

With the movement of laughter a sharp pain was brought to Adam's attention and he looked down at his side. In the very spot where he had been stabbed once before there was a deep scratch that was bleeding through his jerkin. He winced and placed a firm hand on the spot. Gabriel, getting to his feet, put his arm out and pulled Adam up and immediately began marching him down the hill, away from the crest.

Adam let out another chuckle at how forward this boy was.

"Where are we going?"

"To my mother. She will know how to help you."

"Where is your mother?"

Gabriel pointed towards the cottage on the ridge and Adam paused for a moment, seeing the pale smoke puffing from the chimney. So this was the son of the witch. Curious that a witch would name her son after an archangel. There didn't seem to be anything but honesty about him.

A sharp whistle echoed out of the trees and Chip burst forth on his charger. To anyone who did not know Chip, he would have looked quite valiant. The white haired knight sitting so grandly on his horse. But Adam knew otherwise and whistled back in return to the call. Chip, upon spotting the pair, sent his horse into a canter towards Adam, swearing profusely.

"I should have known you would come up here!"

"Then you should have known there was nothing you could have done to stop me."

"Like hell! Get on my horse! You may not care a pig's arse about your own life but there are a fair few who would be quite upset if you were to hurl yourself off that cliff."

"Too late for that."

"What do you mean?"

"Never mind, Chip."

Adam continued to walk in the direction of the cottage with Gabriel's arm still firmly around his middle.

"Adam! Whatever you are thinking, whatever rash decisions you are making, please stop them!"

Chip jumped down from his horse and scrambled to get in front of the pair to stop his Master from continuing down the hill.

"I am simply going to visit this young man's mother to tend to this. Calm yourself, Chip."

Adam made a gesture to his side that was now leaking blood. Chip turned to look at the cottage that Adam and Gabriel were heading towards.

"You mean the witch?"

Gabriel's grip on Adam's side clenched painfully. "Don't talk about my mother that way! She's not a witch! She is the kindest woman in the entire world!"

Adam gave Chip a mock glare. "Yeah! Don't talk about his mother that way!" Upon which he gently smacked Chip upside the head and then continued to make his way down the hill.

With an inordinate amount of cursing, Chip followed suit until they had reached the cottage doors. Gabriel opened them enthusiastically and ushered his guests into the small front room. The cottage was sparse. It looked like everything they owned could fit into a small cart. Still, it was clean with fresh flowers on the small table and a few knick-knacks here and there to give it a lived in feeling.

Leaving the pair standing at the door, Gabriel raced up a small staircase shouting for his mother.

"What a strange boy..." Chip remarked watching Gabriel's skinny legs disappear out of sight.

"Yes, not unlike another I used to know..."

"You know, at first glance, I wouldn't say this looked like the home of a witch."

"And how would you know what a witch's home is supposed to look like?"

"I wouldn't, I just... Thought perhaps there would be more toads..."

"Toads? Are you saying nothing could scream 'witch' more than a bunch of toads? Is she supposed to just have a pile of them croaking about?"

"It was only an observation, my _wise_ ruler!"

"Yes, you seem to be full of them on this journey."

Footsteps and two distinct voices could be heard above their heads as Chip looked around the cottage. A pot of something savory boiled on the fire and Chip removed the lid to dip a little finger into the concoction and licked it delicately.

"Careful" Adam warned, "If you turn into a toad you have to ride in the saddlebag all the way back to the castle."

Chip stopped licking and looked at Adam from the corner of his eye. "I would tell you that you're ridiculous but I have to admit that somewhere in this world, that is a possibility."

Adam laughed and walked back over to the door to study the carvings on the paneling. It was beautiful work and Adam ran a finger along the petals of rose after rose etched into the wood. He had a distinct feeling that he had seen these roses before. Somewhere in his dreams he felt a keen sense that they were connected somehow. He shook it off and turned away from the panel to clear his head. He must have hit it harder then he realized. Upon turning his body, footsteps appeared at the top of the stairs. Chip continued to examine the well maintained kitchen while Adam kept his head down, always cautious of those who might recognize him from one of his many tours around the countryside. First, a measured set of footsteps came to the bottom of the stairs then Gabriel's stumbling footfalls.

Adam, was not sure why he was standing in the middle of such a humble little cottage when he could have just as easily wrapped his injury on his own. He was certain that he was being foolish and wasting time.

He could not understand the turns his life was taking or where they would lead to.

In the moment that Adam raised his head to look up at his hosts he found himself on a road to finding out just that.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

* * *

 **-Alright, My Loves! I didn't mean to post this chapter so late in the evening so I hope it reaches a wide audience anyways. Life has been busy this week.**

 **-There is a lot I want to say about this chapter but I feel like it's a piece in the vast puzzle of my story. I want things to unravel naturally. Sometimes, it might seem like I am just throwing in things at random and then not coming back them immediately afterwards. Patience. Everything will make sense eventually. This story is in the 60's as far as chapters go so we have a lot of ground to cover. I'm trying to make it last one bread crumb at a time.**

 **-I will probably post the next two chapters together by Sunday. Sometimes chapters just make more sense when they are together.**

 **-So, lots to think about with this chapter and hopefully a review or two in my horizon!**

* * *

 **War of Hearts- Ruelle (not sure this song fit but I like it anyway)**

 **I can't help but be wrong in the dark**  
 **'Cause I'm overcome in this war of hearts**  
 **I can't help but want oceans to part**  
 **'Cause I'm overcome in this war of hearts**

 **I can't help but love you**  
 **Even though I try not to**  
 **I can't help but want you**  
 **I know that I'd die without you**

* * *

Brown eyes. She had brown eyes with beautiful rings of hazel in the middle. He would have known those eyes if he were blind. The little face was downcast at first and only reached to his shoulders but then she tilted her chin to look at him, his world tilted with her. Her head was covered as was half her face but the half that could still be gazed upon was pale and jagged, as if she had recently gone hungry for a very long time and was just starting to recover. Adam stumbled backwards and heard a sharp gasp that took him a few moments to realize had come from his lips.

Chip was immediately alerted and was at his side in an instant. "Adam, what is it?"

Adam couldn't speak, he cold only stare at the apparition standing in front of him.

It was then that she spoke. "Monsieur? Are you alright? Gabriel! I need a chair and some cloth."

Chip froze in place, a hand gripping Adam's arm. The voice, her voice. It couldn't be her voice. The younger man turned himself to finally face the woman standing in front of them.

With her hands on her chair she gestured to Adam to sit. "Monsieur, please sit. You're as a pale as a ghost!"

She made another gesture to guide him to the chair at the same moment she said 'ghost' and Adam flinched perceptibly.

She paused at his reaction and looked him in the face with her one eye that was not covered with her head scarf.

Finding his voice Adam finally spoke. "Is that what you are? A ghost?"

She seemed taken aback by his statement. "Of course not, Monsieur, I am flesh."

"Flesh?" He shook his head as if to clear it of the vision in front of him. "How can this be?"

The woman in front of him seemed at a loss with his behavior and looked to her son for a hint.

"I am certain I do not understand you, Monsieur."

Something in the edge of her voice caught Adam's suspicion and his eyes narrowed at her half covered face. "What trick is this? Have you come to toy with me? Are you a witch?! Are you the Enchantress, come back to torment me?! Who are you?!"

Without giving anyone a chance to react he had the thin woman by the arms, mostly to see for himself if she was flesh or not. She cried out in surprise and took a stumbling step back which only caused Adam to strengthen his grip on her.

Her voice shook as she tried to free herself from his grasp. "Please, sir, you are not well. Gabriel said you had a bad fall and you are confused."

"Stop it! Stop it!" Adam shouted finding his reasoning gone. Gabriel, upon hearing his mother's distress latched hold of Adam's arm and tried to pry him away from the woman in his grip.

"Monseiur Adam, let my mother go! You're hurting her!"

Adam, without thinking, put one hand on the skinny boy's chest and pushed hard enough to knock the child clear to the ground.

"Adam!" Chip cried out, finally finding his voice after the shock of hearing hers.

Gabriel landed with a soft thud on the wooden floor and the woman in Adam's arms cried out in alarm. She turned again to look at Adam with a mixture of anger and fear that Adam could have painted in its perfection.

"Don't hurt him! We paid our rent! We have nothing you could want! Please!"

"You have her! Give her back to me!" Adam gave her another shake and to his surprise she reached out two hands and wrapped them around his shoulders to keep her steady. For being as frail as she was she was showing considerable courage in the face of what could only look like a mad-man.

"Who?!" Gabriel cried from the floor, batting away Chip's hand of help.

Adam spared him a glance and then looked back at the apparition in his arms that still held his shoulders with steadying hands. He shook his head again, very similar to a large dog, and then looked back into the eye that was visible. "Do you know me, Madam?"

With just the glimmer of tears in her eyes, she shook her head emphatically. "No, Monsieur, I've never seen you before in my life!"

"Then why do you look like her? Why do you steal her face?"

"Adam!" Chip repeated, grasping the other man's elbow with meaning. Adam shrugged him off and continued to stare at the woman before him.

"Who, sir? Who did I steal?"

"You really don't know?" An anguish entered Adam's throat that startled the woman after a moment and she looked deeply into his eyes trying to see past the madness. She reached up a hand and touched his face for just a moment as several torrid emotions passed in rapid succession.

"I wish I did, Monsieur. Please, don't hurt us..."

Adam swallowed a mouth of saliva and his heart fluttered to the feather light touch of her fingers on his rough cheek. Unable to stop himself he unclenched one hand from her arm and raised it to her face. If he could just touch her face he would be able to really see her. Then he would be able to convince himself that she actually looked nothing like his wife and that she was some stranger he did not recognize. She flinched from his touch and he instinctively tightened his hold on her arm. She whimpered in pain and Gabriel cried for Adam to stop once more. Chip placed his hand firmly on his Master's shoulder, a silent plea for Adam to regain his senses and allow the poor woman in his grip to free herself.

"Please, Mon Ami, please. This isn't her. It can't be her. Please."

Adam turned his head to the side but did not take his eyes off the woman he couldn't seem to release.

"But...But... It must be..."

"It isn't. She isn't here. She's gone..."

For just a moment, no one moved. Not a single muscle. Then the tension in Adam's shoulders ran down his body and right into the floor. He sagged under the weight of the words and his grip slowly lost all its power. To Chip's regret he watched as his Master's face fell with the utter disappointment of losing her all over again and Adam closed his eyes though he never took his fingers from her face.

"Please, Monsieur..." The woman once again murmured as the blood painfully rushed back to her arms from where he had been holding her.

With movements that neither the woman nor her son could have expected, Adam ripped the shawl covering the half of her face he had not been able to see.

A gasp ripped itself out of her chest and Gabriel lunged at Adam with ferocity not to be expected from first meeting the lad.

All of this did nothing to hide the horror on both Adam and Chip's faces as they finally glimpsed the woman behind the shawl. The scarring started from the crown of her head and reached all the way down to her bony shoulders. Her eye, though still in its general shape was puckered and milky with only the light semblance of the rich cinnamon of her other eye. Her ear was missing from that side of her head and her cheek was a map of misery that could have belonged to an entirely different person altogether. Her hair was cut so short it looked like she barely had any and the look of emaciation was so prevalent her veins and bones stuck out in dark relief to her skin.

Adam took several stumbling steps back when Gabriel's body connected with his and he only kept his balance by the hold Chip had on him.

"Oh dear God...What are you?!"

"She is my mother! You monster!"

Adam could only stare at her in the greatest alarm as the woman trembled softly into the shawl that had been ripped from her head.

"Gabriel! Let him go!" She called out, upon which the boy backed away slowly from Adam without any further argument and then rushed over to his mother's side. Both men looked on as he carefully took her shawl out of her hands and once again covered half her face the way it had been before. Never keeping his eyes from her she quickly regained her composure.

"Are you alright?" He whispered to her and she gave him a ghost of a smile and took several shaky breaths.

"For...forgive me...please, please forgive me…." And without further adieu, Adam took to the door in a rush and was out before anyone could say another word. Running as fast as his legs could carry him he sprinted across the fields while his lungs felt they would explode in his chest and he had to stop and crumple to his knees. Gasping for breath he murmured her name over and over again wishing that tree had ripped him down to the bottom of that gulch the way he should have gone in the first place.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

 **-Phew! Had to get these out as early as I could so that everyone could have some good Sunday night reading. Or, you know, wherever you are.**

 **-These two chapters are meant to be a little enigmatic and so don't get frustrated. I'm pumping out chapters so quickly it all will make sense eventually. They are a part of a bigger picture so if they aren't as exciting well...they will be :)**

 **-I have to say something really quick and then we'll get down to business (to defeat the Huns!): I don't think any of you know how important your reviews are to me. I sit and think about your observations and insight and you honestly make me think of things I never considered before. I honestly go back and edit and fix things based on what you say because I want this story to be as amazing as I believe it is. So if you are someone who has reviewed: YOU ARE A ROCKSTAR! If you haven't that's okay too, but if you have something cool to consider, know that it makes a world of difference for me as a writer.**

* * *

 **Skin- Natalie Merchant**

 **Take a look at my body,** **Look at my hands**

 **There's so much here t** **hat I don't understand**

 **Your face saving promises,** **Whispered like prayers**

 **I don't need them**

 **I've been treated so wrong**

 **I've been treated so long**

 **As if I'm becoming untouchable**

* * *

Chip stood as still as a statue staring at the door for what felt like hours. It was only when the woman moved again that he snapped from his stupor. She straitened herself to her fullest height and appeared unfazed if but her hand gripped her shawl with white knuckles. Chip couldn't bear to look at her. Not for any one reason though he would assure himself it was out of shame of what had just happened. He vowed to never say it aloud but he could understand his Master's reaction. If he had been looking as ardently as Adam would always be searching for Belle, he could see how the right side of her face did look like her. She even sounded like Belle.

The deformity was horrifying and the less compassionate side of Chip was in the opinion of the villagers who claimed she must be a witch. He felt sick to his stomach and wrestled with himself on what to do next.

"No words, Madam, can express my extreme regret for-"

"Who did he think I was?"

Chip felt his stomach twist again at her voice. How was it possible that anyone in the world could sound just like her only to be this scarred, emaciated little creature standing before him?

"He is not well. The ramblings of a tragedy. Nothing more."

"You thought so as well. I saw your face."

Chip was a little taken aback. Her voice was forceful and bridged no argument.

"It was a mistake. You are not her."

"Obviously."

Silence sat in the room for a moment before Chip was able to gather the right words to explain.

"He see's her everywhere. You just happened to seem a bit more like her then most of the ghosts he creates in his mind."

"Who was she?" Gabriel finally found his voice again.

"His everything."

Chip took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. He knew he needed to go and find Adam. There was always the possibility that he had run back up to the ridge and actually hurled himself off this time.

"What's your name?"

"Christoph, Madam."

"He called you Chip." Gabriel piped up.

"A foolish nickname, I'm afraid. We were traveling through the village and he..."

"He fell off the ridge. I saw him. I pulled him up with a rope. He was sitting on 'Her Lady's Falling Tree' like a bird waiting to fly. I've never seen a man crouch like that before."

"Gabriel! I told you to stay away from the cliff edge. Why won't you listen to me?"

Chip felt the air leave his lungs. So Adam had gone up there to jump. How he survived is a testament to how fortunate the foolish man was. And whatever 'Her Lady's Falling Tree' was, he couldn't guess.

"Oh dear God..." Chip gulped with emotion and felt the blood drain from his face.

"Monsieur?" the woman murmured but maintained her distance. The memory of where compassion most recently led still fresh on her mind.

"Don't worry, Monsieur Chip, I rescued him. That's why I brought him here before he went mad."

"How can I ever thank you?" Chip gripped his mouth.

The intensity of his voice made Gabriel pause and he looked at his mother for clarification.

"I only wanted to help...What was he doing up there?"

"You must understand, Adam has not been here since it happened. I forgot that it was here. It's my fault, I should have remembered. This is where he lost her."

Chip took a deep breath not realizing that words were pouring out of his mouth like a tidal wave.

The woman turned her head to the side and looked at him hard. "Adam?"

Gabriel looked up at his mother for clarification. "Do you know him, mother?"

She looked at Chip as if discovering a puzzle piece that had been lost. "The Prince's hunting party...She said they would be coming through here by summer's end...You could not be speaking of His Highness, the Prince, could you?"

Chip swallowed hard, realizing what he had just said. "Madam, I must implore you-"

"That was the Prince?!" Gabriel started with alarm.

Chip nodded and then looked back out the door that Adam had fled through. He needed to hurry. The sun was up and they would be expected at the palace soon.

"We were traveling back to Chateau de la Rose. Do you know it, Madam?"

She continued to stare at Chip in such a way that he felt himself squirm. Visibly squirm, as he had done as a boy. He was certain she was going to put a spell on him and reveal herself as a witch after all.

"We know it, sir." Gabriel finally spoke for his mother. "Though, we have never been permitted to go there."

"I beg of you, for the sake of the royal family, please tell no one of this incident. He was not himself today. "

For a moment she said nothing, still holding her shawl tightly on her head to hide her disfigurement. Then, without looking at Chip, she nodded.

Chip let out a small sigh, then pulling out his money purse he placed it on the table where it made a audible clank on the worn wood. Then tipping his hat he walked to the open door. Without knowing why, something pulled on him. Something he could not explain. Her voice had sounded so much like Belle. How could she have such a voice? How could she be here? How did Adam find them on this of all days? He stopped at the door and turned to look back at the frail woman and her equally as vulnerable looking son. With a flick of his eyes to her shawl again he gave as pleasant a look as he could.

"I never caught your name, Madam. Gabriel is yours, but might I know you?"

Several looks passed over her face before she finally gave a small incline of her head and said "Marie, Monsieur. They call me Marie."

A ghost of a smile spread across his tight lips. "It would seem His Highness stumbled across two heavenly beings today. A Saint and an Angel, I see. How very strange."

"We are no such thing, Monsieur. As you said, foolish nicknames."

Her voice seemed so full of enigma. As if she was a puzzle that needed to be solved. He was surprised that such a woman and her strange son could bare such names.

"If you ever have need, if you ever...find yourself wanting, I implore you to come to De La Rose. Tell them I sent for you and there will always be someone to let you in. No one will turn you away this time."

And without another word, he exited the house and told himself to forget the look on Madam Marie's sad face and how achingly she reminded him of her.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

 **-And I'm giving you this chapter as well because we need to move this plot train along AND it was really short. It honestly should have been a part of the last chapter but then it would have felt a bit rambling.**

 **-Plus this baby sets us up for some amazing chapters to come! No spoilers but...I'm stoked!**

 **-Again, reviews are what is making this story so amazing and you don't even realize how much. If you could see all the things I edit and fix and clean up after your reviews you would be impressed with yourselves. So please, keep them coming!**

* * *

 **Begin Again-Rachel Plattan**

 **When did everything fall apart**  
 **When did the nightmares start**  
 **Why is it so hard**  
 **To find a way**

 **To begin again**  
 **oh to begin again**

 **But I need big move**  
 **I need a sharp knife**  
 **I need to cut these scars**  
 **Right out of my life**

 **I wanna a big move**  
 **I need a sharp knife**  
 **Need to be shaken up**  
 **Tonight**  
 **I need a wrecking ball**

* * *

Adam was composed and peaceful looking when Chip found him sitting in the field. He seemed to be lost inside himself and barely acknowledged Chip's approach.

"I trust you gave my apologies to those kind people."

"I did."

A long pause as Adam rubbed his mouth with the back of his fingers. "I am so deeply-"

"Stop. Let's not talk of it."

"Of course. I wouldn't dream of it." Adam rose to his feet in one fluid movement and began walking back in the direction of the village.

"But now that you mention it, what was in your head? Jumping from the ridge, Adam?!"

"I thought we were not talking of it."

"What do you think would have happened to me? To your family? Why would you do it?"

"I didn't jump, Chip. I fell."

"You...fell?"

"I fell."

Chip paused in his long strides before catching up to walk beside Adam as they made their way further and further from the cottage on the ridge.

"You? Who scales castle parapets with his bare hands-"

"Claws" Adam interjected

"Fine, claws, but still. When have you ever fallen from anything?"

"Just the one time. Not including today."

"Adam!" And Chip took a large stride to be standing facing Adam full on, forcing the older man to stop or bodily run into him.

"I'm sorry I didn't remember that this is where she died, but you cannot be so reckless! You cannot be lost to us again!"

"Chip! Did you not see what I did back there! I nearly tore that woman apart! I am already lost! Everything I touch turns to ruins!"

"That's not true! Stop this! Stop! You are not to blame for Belle's death. I know my mother has told you this every day since she died! Listen to her! And God knows who would blame you for seeing her everywhere you go. We would be liars if we said we didn't do the same! You did not cause ruin here!"

"You know nothing! You know nothing of what happens-"

For the third time Chip cut him off, "Nothing of Elizabeth? Of how she turned from you!? Of how you found her rutting in Belle's bed with a servant boy? I know nothing!?"

Adam turned as pale as milk and left his mouth open to catch flies. "You know?"

"Try and stay away from village Ale. They make it strong."

Pressing his fists to his forehead, he held his breath and willed himself not to growl, not to moan, not to do anything to give away the beast. "What am I to do, Chip? What terrible choice should I make? The whole castle will know soon. Perhaps it will even spread throughout the kingdom. A servant boy? Taking a lover from the nobility would be grounds enough to throw her on the high road. But a servant boy will cry for her blood! My daughters are disgraced and I can never bring their reputations back!"

"Sire... I..."

But whatever he was or would do, Chip never had the moment to say. As if the world held its breath, something stopped the air. Just as the words would leave his mouth a sound came pounding through their skin and into their hearts. A bell rang, and than rang again and again. And every time it rang it seemed that another could be heard farther away, in a village across the hills and down into the valleys. Not the bells of the church or of a funeral march. No, these were the royal bells. The ones in every village habitation of Adam's beautiful country. The ones that told of the death of a royal family member. And it didn't take more then a few moments for both men to realize that it was coming from the direction of Chateau de la Rose.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

 **-Okay all you lovely people! I wanted to get this chapter out tonight before I left on vacation for a week. Take the time to appreciate that I chose to do this before I even started packing. That's love.**

 **-This chapter kicks me in the guts! I started writing this fic a couple of years ago and then stopped when I had no inspiration. Then last year I had an accident that caused a massive bilateral pulmonary embolism in both lungs. It's amazing what almost dying and spending a week in the ICU will do to kick your Muse in gear. I had a hard time writing about Rosamund's "sickness" because, to me, it is real. Coughing up blood and having a blood clot so big pressing into your heart and lungs that you can't even speak to tell your family good-bye is not something I would wish on anyone. In this particular time period they would have had no idea why she was dying. It's extremely rare in _our_ time for people so young to have blood clots like this. I wasn't as young as her but still under thirty. **

**-However, I am really glad I wrote it. If we've been coasting along at 40 mph then we're about to speed up on a winding highway. So excited and this chapter is what kicks it into gear.**

 **-I love vacations! You know what would make my vacation even better? Waking up to some awesome reviews in my inbox :)**

 **-All my love this week!**

* * *

 **"Safe and Sound" Taylor Swift and the Civil Wars (You can say what you want about T. Swift but I really do think this song is beautiful!)**

 **I remember tears streaming down your face**  
 **When I said, "I'll never let you go."**  
 **When all those shadows almost killed your light**  
 **I remember you said, "Don't leave me here alone,"**  
 **But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight**

 **Just close your eyes**  
 **The sun is going down**  
 **You'll be alright**  
 **No one can hurt you now**  
 **Come morning light**  
 **You and I'll be safe and sound**

* * *

There came a moment, somewhere between the ride through the countryside and to the castle gates that the adrenaline pumping through his body caused the lines that made Adam a man and what made him a beast started to blur and the feeling of urgency became instinctual. He could not fathom what was happening; only that he had to get back to his family.

Crashing through the front doors, smelling of horse and unwashed clothes he made a bee line to the stairwell and ascended the steps three at a time. He heard his name and all its variations shouted at his back but he paid them no heed. Hollering at the entire castle for Cogsworth, Lumiere, and Mrs. Potts he felt the rise of his advanced sense of smell and sight overcome him in a wave of so many different sensations he could almost faint.

As if on cue the same three people he was searching for materialized out of the servant's quarters.

"Adam! Thank God! Where have you been?!" That was Cogsworth.

"What has happened?! Tell me, Cordelia!"

Adam gripped Mrs. Potts arms firmly but checked himself from hurting her. No one spoke as they looked at Adam with a mixture of fear, sadness and anxiety.

"Tell ME!" He shouted hating the wobble in his voice. "Is it Elizabeth? What has happened? What can I do?"

"Adam, dearest, it's...its Rosamund. Something has happened to Rosamund."

All the air immediately left the room. Then it left the entire castle and perhaps the whole world. Adam forgot what it was like to breath, or that he had never known breath at all. He couldn't catch his air. He looked at Mrs. Potts with such fear it felt that she would be swallowed in it.

"Is she...Please don't say..."

Cogsworth immediately jumped to his rescue, though it would be too late to assuage his fears.

"She lives, My Prince."

Adam shook his head softly, still holding Mrs. Potts, but unable to look her in the face. Without another word he legs rocked and he sat down hard on the stone floor. Resting his head in his hands he fought a losing battle to control his emotions. "She is alive?"

"Oui, Master, she is. But you must know..."

"You rang...rang the bells." He could barely speak the words. The thoughts rushing through his head were drowning him.

"We knew no other way to alert you. You must make haste, Master."

"But, she lives? My daughters alive?"

"She 'asn't much time, Mon Ami."

Adam looked to Lumiere who had spoken and then to the other Heads of House. He shook his skull and gave them a look of such helplessness that they only seemed to share with him. Than with a glance, Cogsworth and Lumiere each took an arm of their ruler and brought him back to his feet.

"You must go see her, sire. We don't know how long we have left."

Adam rubbed the moisture forming around his eyes and nodded as if he comprehended what was being said. Pointing him in the direction of the nursery he walked as though he were sleeping. He stopped when he came to the adjacent door and he saw Isabelle sitting with her arms folded and her helmet on the floor. When she spotted him she ran to him and he was barely able to get to his knee before she leapt into his arms and wrapped her pudgy hands around his sore neck.

Neither spoke as he held his youngest child and felt her breathing vibrate under his chin. Her known grief and his unknown grief mingled together and supported itself against their hearts.

"They wouldn't let me see her. They said I would only make it worse. I wanted to cut their heads off."

Adam almost chuckled but couldn't seem to find the spirit for it. "When you are a ruler, my Beasty, you may cut off whatever you like, on whomever you like."

It was strange to know that Adam did not doubt she would.

"May I see her now? Mother is inside as well and they left me out here all alone. Even William is gone."

Adam looked deeply into her blue eyes and kissed her small nose softly. "Give me a few moments and you are permitted to go inside."

"But, Your Grace-" Cogsworth began but Adam silenced him with a stern look.

"Just a few moments, my love."

Without another word he opened the door to the Princess's grand bedroom.

If it hadn't been for the solemn atmosphere it would not have seemed anything was amiss. Elizabeth sat by the massive bed with the court physician Adam had talked to only a week prior. The royal nanny sat on the other side and Rosamund lay in her bed looking as an angel might with her long golden hair spread out around her.

Elizabeth looked up when Adam entered the room and took to her feet. She seemed to be in physical pain in his presence, drawn and exhausted from what must have transpired and something else entirely that Adam could not name. He thought, perhaps, at meeting her after their last encounter that he would feel something more, but he could not rip his eyes away from his daughter laying in her bed. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as if she could not get enough air and her skin was so pale he could see the veins beneath. She seemed to be turning blue from lack of breath and yet she still continued to breathe as quickly as though she had been running.

He strode towards her cautiously and when he reached her bedside he took her small little hand and brought it to his lips. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked through him before she was able to focus on his form standing at her bedside.

"Papa?" She whispered in a weak voice that did not sound like her own. Adam knelt by her bed and kissed her small mouth several times, reassuring himself that she was there and that she knew him for who he was.

"I missed you so much. What have you been up to, my little Rosebud?"

She smiled at him and shook her head as if to respond but couldn't quite get the air.

"Shh, It's alright, it's alright" He murmured. She gasped one more time and then settled into her pillows with her eyes still trained on her father. They seemed to be pleading something to him but he could not read the words they were describing. "You are so beautiful." He whispered down to her and she smiled in response. Her eyes started to flutter across her pale cheeks and he felt a rise of panic. Flashes of loss crossed his mind. Mother, father, family, servants...Belle...always Belle.

He knew he could not bare another loss. It would be the end of him.

She seemed to settle into some sort of rest though her chest continued to rise and fall rapidly. He breathed quickly with her, willing his air to enter her lungs. Anything to change the course she was on.

Gazing at her another few moments to reassure himself that she was not lost to him he turned to the other people in the room. Without preamble he reached and gently took Elizabeth's hand in his own. It felt cold and unfamiliar to him and he wondered if it had always been so small. She rose to her feet and followed his footsteps out onto the balcony. The soft afternoon breeze was out of place in the face of such a heavy atmosphere inside the bedroom.

She did not meet his eyes as she spoke. "I only left my rooms when I heard that she had taken ill. I swear it, Adam."

He shook his head in frustration. "My God, woman, I do not care about that! How did this happen? What has happened here?"

She paused as if gathering her wits about her. "The physicians...they do not know what is wrong. They cannot find any sign of brain fever or bleeding. They do not know what to do, Adam."

"What can we do, then?"

She shook her head, cascades of blond tresses swirling around her elven face. "I don't think...I am afraid... she is dying, my Lord."

"No!"

"She is my sweet child and she will die..."

"No! I say No!"

"Adam, we will bury our child!" And with that she dissolved into incomprehensible sobs. Without any hesitation he was at her side and wrapped his arms around her tiny waist as she sagged against him and wept into his chest. He wanted to cry. He wanted to weep to match her but he couldn't. If he did then that meant this was truth and that he would lose. He would fight and he would rage and he would find a foe to defeat but he would not weep. Not yet. Not until she was safe and breathing easily in his arms. He could not lose her.

She grasped his arms and held him in a way she had not in a very long time. It was enough to sweep him away back into a world where they were still in love, where their children were safe and happy, and there were no horrible decisions to make.

"What can I do, Mon Soliel? What can I do?"

When her response finally came to his ears he should have known what she was going to say before she said it.

"There is more to you than what you have always told me..."

He adjusted his stance so that he could see her eyes, though she never did meet his gaze again. "Stories of your past, whispered in the hallways when I am believed to be away. Stories of magic and curses..."

"Elizabeth-"

"If you know of a way to save our daughter, you must use it."

"Mon Soliel, you do not know what you say."

"Tell me it isn't true. Tell me that you are all that you have told me you are. That I know you as you have always made me believe. Tell me that it was all the whole truth."

Though he tried, he could not make the lies come. Not in the face of losing his daughter, he could not lie to her mother when it was the only thing she was asking of him.

"I did not want you to ever know."

"I will not pretend to understand but I will forgive you of everything if you will save our daughter. I will believe anything you say, do anything you command if you will save our child. Please, don't let her go."

So many emotions swirled in his heart and mind. Indignation, hurt, anger, love, pain, loss, fear. It was enough to choke him to death. If this woman in front of him only knew the depths of his love and loss for her she would never say or do the things she had said and done. He was sure of it. If she could only have known him as he was and where he had come from.

But then, if those thoughts were true than it was, again, his own fault for having kept it from her. The only way to fix everything was to do what she asked.

Without another thought he nodded his head, a dark feeling of sadness and fear crossing his handsome face. He could not dwell on it long or he would lose his nerve. Taking a delicate hand in his own he kissed her knuckles for as long as he dared. Then turned and left her standing there alone on the balcony, never knowing what she had truly asked of him.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

 **Alright, I'm still on vacation but I wanted to stay on track and keep my momentum up so here is another chapter for the start of the week.**

 **-It's really small and not a lot happens except to keep the story going. But it does have a lot of heart and will set up the next two chapters which I should post next week as usual (I'm kind of getting a Sunday and Wednesday rhythm going.)**

 **-Your reviews for the last chapter were beautiful and have made my vacation amazing! I can't WAIT for you to read what happens in the next two chapters. It's so crazy!**

 **-All my love this week!**

* * *

 **When the Darkness Comes-Colbie Caillet**

Now the door is open  
The world I knew is broken  
There's no return  
Now my heart is not scared  
Just knowing that you're out there  
Watching me  
So believe

I'll be here waiting  
Hoping, praying that  
This light will guide you home  
When you're feeling lost I'll leave my love  
Hidden in the sun  
For when the darkness comes

* * *

Pressing as many kisses as he could onto his sleeping daughter's cheeks, Adam was met immediately outside the nursery by Cogsworth, Lumiere, and Mrs. Potts. Those three never seemed to be far from each other despite their insistence that they lived separate lives from their positions. It must have been their added ten years of servitude when they had been turned into common household objects. It unifies a group better than one would expect.

He quickly made his way to his living quarters where he was met with a man he rarely saw. This man was thin, sallow, and as old as sin. Adam could have laughed at the cliche of it all. No one spoke at first as their prince poured himself water and downed it in two gulps. His heart was pounding in his chest and he felt an exhaustion that seemed permanent.

"Would you care for something to drink, Roberte?"

The other man shook his head and continued to gaze at Adam with grave eyes. "I was so certain you would never call on me for this errand."

"You have heard of my daughter's condition?"

"Indeed, I have."

"Then you know why I have to."

"And yet, you did not do so when you lost your first wife. Why now?"

Adam paused at this question. It seemed fair enough. He had never resorted to this with Belle because...because he saw her die. She was already dead when he could have done anything.

"The past is gone. All I can do is try and fix what is happening now."

"And you believe that if I tell you where she is than you can fix what is happening?"

"I have to try."

"You are either very brave or very foolish."

"She?" Cogsworth piped in, knowing who Roberte was but still seemed baffled.

"Dearest, what are you planning on doing?"

Adam looked deeply into the face of Mrs. Potts. She, who was more a mother to him than anyone, could see the beast inside. More prominent than it had been in years and it frightened her.

"You couldn't mean _her_ , could you?"

"I must."

"Please don't do zis, Mon Ami." Lumiere murmured from Mrs. Potts left. "Surely zere is anozer way."

"Than tell me!" Adam gripped the lapels of his friend and servant. "Give me any other option. When has there ever been another option presented? Give me any other option that will save my daughter. Anything that will make this right." Adam felt his voice crack and had to swallow hard to continue to speak though the fear and tears were only moments away from escaping.

"She is the only good thing I have left. The only piece of my soul that still exists. I am her father and I must save her."

No one spoke for so long it would seem that time had frozen. But there was a collective sigh as the room accepted what was about to happen.

With another look of consternation and stress, Roberte handed Adam a small slip of paper. Adam nodded his thanks and looked at what was written in Roberte's tight scrawl.

"She is so close...How has she always been so close?"

"She is wherever she chooses to be. But beware, sire, it cost lives finding this information and it will cost many more to forget it, just the same."

"I understand the costs."

"You haven't even begun to understand the costs, Your Highness."

"I must do this..."

"I know. And that is what makes this so much more unbearable. If I have your leave to go, sire?"

"You do...and thank you."

Again, silence reigned and was only interrupted by a knock at the door that resulted in Chip, Babette and Captain Luis.

They were met with more devastated looks until Chip was able to wheedle the truth out of his mother. His look of shock was so very much like his mother that Adam allowed a soft chuckle to escape as he pulled a warm overcoat over his vest and replaced his dirty, mud stained boots with better fitting ones made for horse rides.

"I'm going with you!"

"Chip, no! Please, no!"

"Mother," he turned to her and she could see the determination on his face. "Someone must go."

"And that should be me." Captain Luis responded with firmness.

"I do not require anyone to accompany me."

"But you shall have it all the same." Luis countered with firmness to Adam's declaration.

"What I am about to do is dangerous at best. We must try and minimize the damage. Anyone that comes with me is liable to suffer whatever fate awaits me."

"And you would deny us the honor of suffering it with you, My Prince?" Chip murmured softly, eyes imploring him.

"Oh, I cannot bare this!" Mrs. Potts rested her weight against an end table and clasped her hands as if to pray.

"Mother," Chip strode to her and took her hands in his own. "I have known since I was a boy that those you have cared for...have all been your children. Whether you gave birth to them or not. You loved them all the same. Let me do so as well." Then turning back to Adam. "I will not let you do this alone."

"I guess I have no choice in the matter." Adam replied with resignation.

"No, it would seem none of us have any choices anymore." Cogsworth muttered.

"Did we ever?"

"No, I suppose not."

"Alright, then, Chip shall go. Captain, you will accompany me as well. But know that I will not return unless I know that my daughter is safe."

"You protect each other, do you hear? Keep each other safe!" Mrs. Potts touched each of their hands until they nodded that they would indeed keep each other safe.

Without another word on the subject the three men walked out the door, out of the castle and into the unknown.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

 **-Hey hey hey! Hope you all had a delightful week so far! I had to get these chapters out before life got crazy again so I hope you all enjoy it immensely!**

 **-A few things to go over (because I am one of those authors that NEVER stops talking...sorry)**

 **-I had no intention of posting both these chapters together. I want to eek this out as long as possible in hopes of getting lots of people to read it over time. However both Chapter 17 and 18 were one chapter not too long ago and when I tried reading them separately I realized that they just had to be posted together. I hope that makes some people happy!**

 **-Something to keep in mind: When I wrote this chapter and the next one I had not seen the new 2017 Beauty and the Beast movie yet. And even if I had I would have still written the Enchantress this way. A lot of times, fic writers portray her as this soft, gentle fairy godmother type character. Heck! I even did it in my last fic I wrote quite a few years ago. However, I didn't think that fit this story. She is so enigmatic in the original story and the original Disney movie. This time around I wanted her to be very much in the gray area. Think about the stories of the fairy courts in Irish and Celtic literature. I wanted her to be neither good nor bad but somewhere in between. That also is meant to reflect a lot into the journey to meet her and what the travelers encounter in the forest.**

 **-This chapter is a bit of a filler one that gets them to where they need to be and while I still really like it, it just wasn't meant to be a stand alone chapter. I am hoping that makes sense and since I posted TWO chapters tonight I'm hoping I get lots of good reviews.**

* * *

 **Battlefield-SVRCINA**

 **We carry on through the storm**  
 **Tired soldiers in this war**  
 **Remember what we're fighting for**

 **Meet me on the battlefield**  
 **Even on the darkest night**  
 **I will be your sword and shield,**  
 **Your camouflage and you will be mine**

 **Echoes of the shots ring out**  
 **We may be the first to fall**  
 **Everything could stay the same**  
 **Or we could change it all**

 **Meet me on the battlefield**

* * *

It wasn't until dusk that the little rescue party found their way to the crossroads in the woods.

"It's this way to the village." Chip started to turn his horse in a westerly direction.

"We are not going to the village." Adam responded cryptically.

"Might I ask his Highness where it is we are going?" Luis piped in for the first time that evening. He had been stoic the entire ride from the castle to that point.

"Not that I mind being led into the dragon's mouth, but I would just like to be aware of what kind of dragon it is I am being devoured by."

Adam once again checked the aging slip of paper in his pocket. "Bite your tongue or you'll give her ideas."

"Just for clarification," Chip interjected. "We are going to pay a visit to THE Enchantress, are we not?"

"That is the general idea."

"And if I have my stories straight, you have not seen this woman-er, person since she cast the spell on you."

"Us, you mean."

"Yes, us, but I believe we were just an afterthought. You were her target. Am I right?"

"More or less."

"And now we are about to disturb her evening without so much as a _'how-do-you-do'?_

"Well, I don't intend to barge in the front door with my sword drawn, if that is what you mean."

"Do you think she'll even have a door? Wasn't she just wandering around in the snow disguised as a beggar waif?"

"Gentlemen, do not misunderstand me. We are not dropping in for tea at an old friend's home." With an abrupt turn, Adam craned his neck to stare both Chip and Luis in the face. "I am prepared to die this night for the sake of saving my daughter. Are you?"

Without hesitation both men gave solemn but unquestionable answers. "Yes, Your Highness."

"I have no idea what we will find when we get there or what it will look like. I only know that according to this paper, she will be there."

"How did you even know where to look?"

Adam sighed heavily. "Just after Belle and I were married I tried to find her, the Enchantress, I mean. I looked everywhere and searched everything. Not a hint, nor a whisper of such a person existing. Than Roberte came to me a few months before Belle...was lost... and told me that he knew where to find the Enchantress but that it had come at a terrible cost to discover the secret and implored me to let him keep it to himself. Whatever magic was used to discover the mystery, or one of them at least, was not worth the cost of seeking her out. It would only bring us ruin."

"And you listened to him?" Luis's voice came out of the ever increasing darkness.

"I was happier than a man should ever be. The spell was broken; I was starting to...become something again. Belle and I were expecting my heir. She was mine and I had everything a man could ever desire. It was really too much to ask for, I suppose."

"And you never thought to seek the Enchantress out after..."

"After the fall? No, I thought of it. I was obsessed with the idea. There are a great many unthinkable and unforgivable ideas I thought on after that night. But..."

"You couldn't do it?"

"Credit is due to your mother, Chip. She knew I was stealing myself for something truly horrible. In the end I felt that I...that I deserved what happened. That it was some unseen force for good that had torn us apart."

For a long moment no one spoke until Chip, never really able to stay quiet for long, said what they all were thinking. "You truly believe that she was taken because you were not worthy of such happiness?"

"And with that, I do believe we are here." Adam murmured evasively. Not able to answer the question that still hung in the air.

Adam had been leading them in what had seemed to the other men a northerly direction, having left the marked path so far that neither Chip nor Luis could tell what direction they should go to find it again. For all intent and purposes, they were lost in the woods in the dark.

"Where is here?"

"According to the paper, we should be seeing a sign any moment now."

"A sign of what?"

"That we are no longer where we should be."

"Your Highness, I don't see any-"

And with that something changed. Something rippled in the darkness just to the left of their vision. Chip watched in wonder as right before their eyes, a glowing pathway appeared out of the line of trees. It was paved with what could only be described as moonbeams and it lit up the air around it so magnificently that the travelers could see the eyes and shapes of creatures unknown watching them just out of the full view. Soft sounds began to envelop them and Adam was sure he could smell just a hint of roses.

"How...how did you..know?" Luis whispered in awe.

"Roberte explained that wherever she is, it is not exactly the same as where we are."

"Sounds like magic nonsense to me."

"I suppose we will have to start believing in nonsense then."

"It must be a trick."

"Have you forgotten what it feels like to have wind rush through your entire metal body? Or was becoming a suit of armor also just a trick?"

"Adam, are you sure you want to do this? What if we can never come back?"

"I can accept that if she will live."

No one spoke of who she was but they all held there breath as Adam dismounted his horse, tied it loosely to the nearest tree and without wavering took a small step onto the paved stone road. When he did not immediately burst into flames or vanish into the moonlit air. Both of his stalwart men followed suit. Soon they were making a brisk pace along the paved path and trying desperately not to acknowledge or see the array of creatures slowly peeking out at them from underneath the wooded area. Claws and talons, feathers and scales glittered in the light of the path and every sound whispered their names enough to make a man mad.

After what felt like eternity they came upon a glittering gate so large it was almost impossible to see where it ended into the darkness. Again, Adam did not hesitate but placed a hand on the gate and gave it a little push. At first nothing happened. He pressed his weight further into it and not so much as a groan from whatever the gate was made of. A burst of anger erupted out of him and he thrust his shoulder into the gate's hard surface and felt his bone would shatter at the impact. Crying out in pain he retreated to his two men and glowered angrily at the gate as the sound of giggles and twitters filled up the darkness. Apparently something found Adam's attempts very humorous.

"Sire, come this way!" Luis called from a spot on the gate post that Adam had overlooked in his haste to get inside.

All three men gathered around a small plaque that held a deeply embossed inscription.

"What language is that?" Chip pondered.

"Old English, I believe." Adam whispered.

"Can you read it, Adam?"

"I can try. Belle and her father were better at this than I."

"Perhaps we should have brought Maurice along."

"Don't be absurd. The poor man is all the way in Molyneux and practically on death's door."

After his reprimand, Adam hunched down until his eyes were only a few inches away from the plaque's metal surface.

" _'Enter those'_...who sook? No, that isn't a word, is it? Sought? Seek! _'Enter those who seek'_ ...the answer! That's it! _'Enter those who seek the answer!'"_

Adam gripped his fist at the last word and just as he did the gates silently swung open to reveal the most quaint, charming little cottage on the other side.

They all stood and gazed at it with matching skeptical faces. With all the splendor of the pathway and the glitter of the metal gate the cottage was lit into full relief.

"Seems a little anticlimactic... don't you think?" Chip mused, his head to the side.

"To each their own, I suppose." Adam responded mildly and without another word took a step across the threshold of the gate and waved for the others to follow.

Chip did so without comment but Luis made to move and immediately stopped.

"Your Highness..." He called softly and Adam turned to see Luis struggling to follow but made movements as if bound without cords.

"Captain?"

"I cannot follow you." Luis said a little helplessly.

"What is happening?"

"I couldn't tell you. I just know that I cannot follow you."

"I would not leave you out here alone, Luis."

"I don't think I'm supposed to go in there. Not with you."

"But-"

"Go, My Prince. You must finish this. I'm not seeking the same answers you are."

"But we seek the same answers, don't we?"

"I don't think so. I know the answers to what I need."

"What is the answer?"

"That you are my Prince and that I serve you!"

Adam and Luis smiled at one another for just a moment and then without another thought the two remaining men approached the door of the cottage and gave a stern knock.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

 **-Okay, *deep breath* This has been the chapter to keep me up at night trying to figure out how to make it work.**

 **-I have revised this one over and over and I am sure that it isn't perfect but it still blows my mind every time I read it.**

 **-As I said in the last chapter: approach your reading of the Enchantress and all the magic with a darker eye. She isn't meant to be evil but I wouldn't categorize her as good either. Very much the enigmatic fairy queen.**

 **-Also, take Adam's attitude as a father who needs help. He still has a lot of issues to work out but since he has such a one track mind he is able to focus on his daughter and not how he actually feels about who he is talking to.**

 **-I won't go on and on (despite the fact that this chapter is trying to eat me alive!) but I just wanted to put out that this particular chapter was written differently then some of the others. In the last dozen or so I have been trying to take things at a steady pace that is slowly starting to speed up. This one is meant to catch you off guard. I tried to picture what it would be like for Adam and Chip to just walk into the Enchantress's cottage and how disorienting that would be. Also, the original movie does a pretty abysmal job of explaining how the spell was supposed to work (do you think there is a class out there that explains the science of magic because I would attend the crap out of that!). I tried to fill in some of those holes with this.**

 **-And, HOLY COW! TURNING POINT! I am so excited and bite-my-nails-scared for you to read this! OMG please write reviews! Can't wait! Have a great weekend and I will try to get another out on Sunday!**

 **-All my love!**

* * *

 **"When It's All Over" Raign (This song speaks to my soul. I listened to it a thousand times picturing the end of this chapter and what they must have all been feeling afterwards! Totally give it a listen)**

 **Come back from the future**  
 **Before we didn't fall**  
 **Can the broken sky unleash**  
 **One more sunrise for the dawn**

 **Call out to the after life**  
 **Can you hear us when we cry**

 **It's all gone wrong**  
 **Heaven hold us**  
 **We've lost the sun**  
 **Heaven told us**  
 **The world was strong**  
 **Heaven hold us**  
 **Where do we go**  
 **When it's all over**

* * *

The door swung open ominously and Chip hesitated. "I would be lying if I told you this wasn't the most terrifying thing that we have ever done."

"I would never encourage you to lie. Regardless, best foot forward."

It was pitch dark inside the cottage and even Adam's superhuman sight failed to penetrate the murkiness. He took a step inside anyway and waited to be devoured. To his surprise it was bright on the inside and Chip bodily bumped into Adam from behind on his way in.

What his eyes beheld was so much more majestic than the outside would have the viewer believe. It could best be described as gilded. A beautiful dining room with long tables and glowing chandeliers. More food than the entire village could consume was laid out on the table and at the head sat the most beautiful woman in the entire world.

Adam knew it wasn't her. He could smell the distinct difference. But he still took a stumbling step towards her. Still murmured "Belle" when she turned her beautiful head to look at him and reward him with her smile.

Chip had Adam's arm and held it instinctively as the Belle impersonation rose from her seat in a gown of the palest blue. Taking a gliding step in their direction she reached them as if she floated there.

"Adam!" Her voice rushed over him like rain and he closed his eyes and willed himself to be anywhere but where he was.

 _'It's not her, it's not her, it's not her...'_

"Adam, I've missed you so much! Won't you take my hand?"

Without opening his eyes he shook his head. "I will not, milady."

"Will you not even look at me?"

"You are not her."

There was a soft chuckle and the light in the room changed behind his eyelids.

"Now, now, is that the son I raised? To be so disrespectful to his wife."

Adam couldn't help it. He had not heard his mother's voice in so many years it instantly made him weak. He would have known her voice anywhere but it still shocked his system and made his world spin.

And when he opened his eyes the room had indeed changed. Instead of the glorious dining room he was now in a delicate nursery. Not unlike Rosamund and Isabelle's. And standing in the middle was a petite woman with green eyes and auburn hair. Adam gazed on her with so much tenderness he couldn't breathe.

"Mother?" he whispered and she gave him a stern look.

"Adam, what are you about?"

"I don't understand..."

"Come and let me look at you!"

Adam, moving as though asleep, jerked to take a step towards her and was once again pulled back by Chip.

"That is not your mother, Mon Ami."

"Does it matter?"

"Yes, your Highness, it _does_ matter."

"Ah Chip! My, you have grown!" Her voice was music and it made Adam ache to hear it. He would do almost anything to make her continue to speak.

"I have never met you, Madam. I was born long after his mother left this world. You should be more sure of your timelines."

Again she laughed and it was slightly more mocking this time. "And yet, I know you much better than you assume. Shall we have some tea while I reiterate the finer points of your sordid past, little teacup?"

"No, please stop." Adam said abruptly, knowing Chip did not deserve to have his follies thrown in his face by anyone, let alone this particular appiration.

"Adam, dearest, you need not be afraid. Come to me..."

With great pain Adam again shook his head. "I'm so sorry...I cannot, Mother. Please, forgive me."

And with those words the room dissolved again and Elizabeth materialized out of what appeared to be a dark dungeon. It was dank and ugly and the smell was deplorable.

"Perhaps, this is more suited to your needs."

"At least less shocking to my sensibilities."

"And why is that, Mon Soleil?"

He flinched at the nickname but continued. "Elizabeth lives while the others are lost to me."

"And Elizabeth is not lost to you?"

"As long as she lives I can bare the other losses."

"That is why you have come, no? So that you will not lose more?"

"Indeed, that is why."

"And what did you think you would find here?"

"Not this..." Adam's heart hammered against his ribs but he swallowed as though he was at perfect ease.

"What are you willing to give in return for your losses?"

With one last deep breath Adam lowered himself down to his knee at the fake Elizabeth's feet.

"Anything, My Lady Enchantress, I will give anything."

With a radiant smile the room dissolved once more and where Elizabeth had stood was an extraordinarily tall woman with butter yellow hair that brushed the floor when she walked. She was incredible and ethereal. Skin like milk and eyes as green as emeralds. To Adam's horror, he realized that she had no pupils inside the green circles and so the sensation of falling in to her gaze was enough to make him dizzy. She was beautiful in a way that would make Adam turn from her if he wasn't so determined to face down the woman he had feared almost his entire life. And indeed, no amount of preparation would have made him at ease with seeing this woman again. He had to bite down on his lip to keep it from trembling as his stomach felt like he was plumeting to his doom.

"Ah, you found me, Little Prince."

"I think it was the shape-shifting that gave you away." Chip muttered and Adam bumped a fist softly into Chip's leg to silence him.

"You didn't like my disguises, Teacup?"

"Not at all."

"What about this one?" And for the fourth time her appearance changed to that of the old crone of Adam's nightmares. He didn't move from his spot on the ground but he couldn't restrain himself from closing his eyes. Even the smell of her was the same as he remembered. Musty and unwashed with just a hint of garden earth and grass.

"As I recall, this was your favorite one." Her voice had an otherworldly deep echo to it that Adam did not remember. He must have been truly daft not to have noticed it the first time he met her in this form. He should have known something was amiss.

She made his skin crawl but he remained still as a statue as she caressed his rough cheek with her gnarled, dirty fingers.

"Now, mind your manners and give us a kiss..." She smiled and revealed one blackened tooth.

Adam swallowed and nodded his head. "Yes, my Lady."

She was so short he only had to lean over and placed a soft kiss on her chapped lips.

Lingering there for a moment, he heard Chip gag and when he pulled his face away the Enchantress once again stood towering over him in his kneeling position.

"Well, well. You seemed to have learned some of your lessons."

"You already knew that." Adam murmured back.

"Or else the love of his daughter overcomes his disgust for you." Chip's face was screwed up in anger.

"For the love of God, Chip, hold your tongue!"

"No, no, Little Prince, let the fine China speak if he has something to say."

"My Lady Enchantress, we did not come here to offend you."

"What if your very existence offends me?"

"I would not think we would have made it through the front door if that were true."

"And what is it you had hoped to accomplish by barging through regardless?"

"Your mercy, My Lady. I will not pretend I am above it. I beg you on my knees for your help. My daughter..."

"...is dying. I know." And for just a moment her voice softened to something recognizable as a voice.

"Will you help me?"

"If I recall those were my words, when I stood on your doorstep offering you a rose."

"I was a fool."

"You still are. And you don't even have a rose to offer me."

"If it is roses you wish, all that I possess are yours."

"A simple rose will not pay the price for what you ask."

"How can I save her? There must be a way, some magic, some spell..."

"Have you ever stopped to consider that there is no magical foe to fight this time? That it is not magic at all that will take her?"

"I refuse to accept that."

"Why?"

"I cannot change what nature will do, but magic can be altered and bent. I have seen it happen."

"And you believe that I posses such power to change the natural order of a life to a magical one?"

"You have done it before, you can do it again. My life is proof."

For a moment she stood regarding him. Then without a word she took one of his large hands in her own. "Come. I wish to show you something."

He rose to his feet and followed. She led him to a room that had not been there moments before and he felt disoriented at the change. The room they entered was massive. The size of his ballroom at the castle or larger. Nothing but crystal white covering ever inch. When they reached the middle he realized what was giving the wall its sheen.

She stopped them in front of the largest mirror he had ever seen. His reflection glittered on its surface and stretched the expanse of walls and ceilings. She reached out and stroked its surface and before his eyes it rippled like water.

"It's like mine...the one you gave me..."

She smiled without looking at him. "Cut from the same fabric of time. I was loath to part with your piece, but then, you needed it more than I."

"What do you wish to show me?"

Without answering his question she leaned to its surface again and whispered something incomprehensible and its reflection changed. Adam was now staring into the nursery of the castle. Rosamund lay on her bed gasping for air every few seconds, unable to speak, breath, or stay still from the pain in her chest. She wheezed out tears and held Mrs. Potts hands for dear life. Adam took a staggering step forward and put his hands on the mirror's surface.

"How long does she have?"

"She will not live to see the morning." The Enchantress responded without emotion.

"What is the purpose of showing me this?"

"You wasted what little time you had to spend with her running to me for help. Don't you think it would have been wiser to have stayed by her side while she slipped into the darkness instead of letting her wonder if her father ever truly cared?"

"My daughter knows that I love her! She knows it! She cannot end this way! Have you no compassion, woman!? No love for a dying child? She does not deserve this fate!"

"Nor does any child. Nor do the parents that have to bury their children for millennia before you ever entered this world. She will die regardless. If not tonight than someday. In the blink of an eye both your children and your children's children's children will die. All the mothers and sisters, the daughters and the wives. All will eventually leave you, Little Prince. None were any more special than the thousands of mortals who grieve the same as you do for their lost children."

Adam swallowed, never taking his eyes away as Mrs. Potts smoothed his daughter's face with her gentle hands and whispered words he could not hear. "She is more special... _to me_."

"Why? Twenty years ago you would not have given a breaths difference to a dying child."

"I did not know how. You taught me. You gave me that chance. I am not ignorant to the kindness in your cruelty, My Lady. And you are right, she will die. But not before she has had a chance to love and find love in return."

Without realizing it the image in the mirror had changed. A dark storm, a twisted tree, a jagged cliff. A young man hanging off the edge of the ravine holding for dear life to a beautiful woman who was round with child. The sound was deafening, thunder and lightening ripped through the sky. Screams of the dying and those failing to rescue them. The roaring wind only able to catch handfuls of sentences.

 _'Please Adam! Don't let go!'_

 _'Hold on, Belle!'_

"And what of her? Did she get her chance?" The Enchantress whispered over the noise.

Adam's heart raced as he watched her eyes grow wide, the lightening hit the tree ripping it in half. The carriage swayed and then started to pull on her slipping form. He watched in agony as she gazed into her lover's eyes and than let go, falling into the carriage. The door slammed shut and they fell forever and ever.

Adam heard Chip take several steadying breaths next to him.

"Chip?"

With such sadness as only Adam could have understood. "My mother told me after it happened but I...I didn't really believe it. I couldn't picture it, you see?" And to Adam's horror several tears escaped those light blue eyes and ran shamelessly down Chip's cheeks. "I didn't know... She was... _Belle_. She was our Belle. How could she leave like that?"

Without warning he took a swing and punched the reflection with all his strength. There was a crack and the whole room shook. Adam didn't hesitate to pull his Master of the Hunt to his chest and hold him there but Chip did not resist. "How do you bare it? I never got to say goodbye..."

"Neither did I."

"How could she have let this happen?"

Adam opened his mouth and gazed at the Enchantress over his shoulder.

"You must say it." She murmured.

"It was no ones fault, Chip. It just...it just happened. We can't save...we can't save everyone."

And then Chip looked into Adam's face with the most childlike fervor he had ever seen on a grown man.

"Why not?" He asked his master, imploringly.

"Perhaps...perhaps we weren't supposed to. I would have given anything to have her back but...she's gone, Chip. We can't change what is supposed to happen."

As if on cue the storm ceased. The room brightened, the crack in the mirror disappeared and the air once again breathed calmly.

"Very good, My Little Prince."

"You will help us?" He replied as they broke apart and turned to look at the Enchantress once more.

"There is a price to be paid for such a spell."

"What is the price?"

"You said you would give anything?"

"I will."

"What about his life?"

And in a moment Adam had the sharpest knife in his hand. It glittered black and deadly and of its own volition was at Chip's throat. Adam tried to wrench his hand free but it wouldn't budge. He couldn't blink, let alone tear his hand away from Chip's pale, horrified face.

"It demands a life?"

"Where do you think magic comes from? You ask me to save a life and put the order out of balance."

"Then take my life!"

"And what makes you think your life is worth so much that it would suffice?"

"Surely shedding his blood could not bring about the miracle I am asking for. There is darkness in that! Evil that would touch her life forever!"

"It is the price that I ask to save her. Are you willing to do whatever it takes?"

Adam gazed into Chip's scared eyes. They were such a light color of blue you could imagine looking into water and seeing the bottom of his soul. Chip tried to smile but only managed a grimace.

"It is alright, my friend. She is worth it...Do you not hesitate."

Adam thought of his daughter. He saw her life in perfect detail. Her blond hair swinging as she ran. Her wearing soft day gowns as she picked roses and kissed her mother. He saw her coming out into society, being made offers by eligible young men, marrying under his guidance and protection, creating a family and watching them grow in the shadow of the throne. He saw her happy and whole with color in her cheeks and a laughter on her lips.

Without a word it all disappeared as he pulled the knife away. Her lifeless body, decaying and rotting in the family crypt as her father knelt at its base and wept.

Pulling the knife close to his chest, Adam turned back towards the Enchantress. "How can I trade one that I love for another? I would not take that away for the wide world. Even for my own flesh and blood. They are all...all my children."

As if on cue the room dissolved into the simple cottage with a single table and bookshelves lining the walls.

"Well done." She whispered, eyeing him curiously. Her gaze was already disconcerting enough without her pupil-less eyes boring into his soul and so Adam looked down at his hand to see the dagger had disappeared with the room. He expelled a deep breath and bit the inside of his cheek to keep from growling in anger at his next words.

"Then there is nothing you can do. I thank you for your time, My lady." Adam turned to Chip who looked more devastated than relieved.

"I did not say I could do nothing."

"Then there is another way?"

"Perhaps, though it will still come to great personal cost for you."

"I cannot take the life of another, but my own is yours for the taking."

"How very noble, albeit, dramatic."

"What is the price?"

"I asked you before, where do you think magic comes from?"

Adam thought for a moment and then looked her square in the eye. "It comes from life. When I was searching for you, I always wondered how you could have generated a spell like you did. Then I learned where magic came from. Its creation is from life. The earth for small and simple magic."

"And for a spell as great as you are asking for?"

"Blood..."

Chip spoke, though his voice still shook from shock. "How much blood was spilled to create our spell before?"

"None. At least not in the way you are thinking."

Chip gave her a skeptical look as if he wanted to say something snide but was attempting to control himself.

"Spilling blood is not the only way to use it. Your master is right, teacup. There is a darkness in taking a life for the magic. However, that doesn't mean great sacrifice wasn't made to create your spell."

She closed her eyes as if remembering something glorious.

"It was magnificent. The greatest work I have ever done. The ripple effect descended across the entire country. It altered everyone and everything for leagues. Even I was surprised. I didn't realize how far it would reach."

Chip patted Adam's chest. "See? I told you we were an afterthought."

"Then how can you help, if not to take more blood?"

"Well, you see, a spell like that takes great power. And it doesn't end, even when the spell is broken."

"Then why did I change back."

"A greater magic took its place."

Adam and Chip looked on at each other in confusion.

She sighed as if having to explain something to two incredibly dense little children. "I cast the spell and left you to your own devises. The magic would work to its best advantage and your fate would be in its hands. But then magic comes from all sorts of places, every sort of life imaginable. If one would change you to the way I left you, then another would change you back."

"Belle..."

"Both of you. You created a magic more powerful then what I could create. It required your souls. Your love beyond age and death. In a way….a great sacrifice was made for the both of you to be together."

"But she died. She _did_ leave."

"But her magic didn't, nor did her memory."

"I don't follow." Chip interjected, getting irritated with the Enchantresses roundabout way of talking.

"I created the Beast with a magic that physically changed who you are and would be….. forever. If you were to ever regain your humanity it would not be in the retracting of magic but recreating who you would have been. When you met the conditions of my impossible spell you created a greater magic that physically changed you to a man. It did not reverse the previous spell. It created something new. It made you new."

"And this magic...never leaves. It is, for better words, holding me together as a man?"

"Precisely. You are grasping it quite nicely."

"Can this magic be used?"

"It can."

"And it will heal my daughter?"

"It will."

Chip placed a hand on Adam's shoulder. "Adam, wait...There must be more to it then that."

The Enchantress smiled. "Smart little teacup."

"What will happen to the magic once it is used?" Adam murmured.

"It can only serve one purpose at a time. If freely given, it is a magic beyond compare and your precious daughter will be whole and live a comfortable, long life."

"And me?"

She paused for a moment as if she almost wished she didn't have to utter what she as about to utter. "You will no longer have Belle's magic to hold you together."

The room stood still, the air in Adam's lungs froze and he turned to Chip who had his arm around the older man in case he could not support himself any longer.

"But that will mean...I will be..."

"A beast. Just as I left you. Exactly the moment when the spell was broken."

For a moment, Adam's world stopped. It was as if the entire globe had ceased it's orbit and he was left standing stone still in a vast universe where nothing made sense and his life would forever be frozen in that one moment of shock . The beast. He would be a beast as he had before.

Then quite as suddenly his world rocked forward and Chip's loud voice reverberated in his ear painfully.

"Adam, do not do this. Surely there is another way." He gripped Adam harder.

Finally grasping his voice he tossed out the first words that came to him. "We already know the other way! It is to slit your throat!"

"That is better! You cannot accept this offer!"

"It is not better!"Adam placed a tender hand on Chip's neck. "I cannot lose you too."

"And what of you? How can you go through this again?"

Adam's forehead came in contact with Chip's shoulder. "You swear this will save her? My humanity for her life?"

"I swear it to you, Little Prince." Came the reverent reply.

"And what of my servants? Will they suffer as well?"

"Only if they wish to. Their magic is just as accessible if they cared to bargain it away as you are so doing."

"That won't be necessary."

"Then they are spared."

Without taking another breath he turned back to her and nodded his head. "Done."

"Adam! No!"

"You are so much braver then I have ever given you credit for." She commented, as if she had not considered this outcome.

"I could hang the bravery if there was any other way. Though I know there is not. I lost my everything once; I will not do it again. If that is bravery then it is what I must do."

For a moment she did not speak, and then as if an afterthought came to her she took a step in his direction. "There is much more to this story then you realize. Chin up, it's only just starting."

"What must I do for this magic to work?"

"Are you afraid?"

"More now then I have ever been."

She gave him a soft smile. "Come to me."

Chip still didn't let his prince go. "Please, I'm begging you, don't do this."

Adam gripped his hand in the younger man's. "It will be alright, Chip."

He stepped forward facing the fearsome woman. They were almost the same height and he was able to gaze into her startlingly green eyes. Their depths seemed to go on forever and he would shrink away had he any less dignity.

"What shall I do?"

"Only close your eyes and trust me."

He didn't. He would have liked to have said so but he just couldn't think of two things at once and at that moment he was consumed with the more pressing issue at hand. Obediently he closed his eyes and clenched his hands.

He waited and waited for what felt an eternity. And when he felt that he could not wait a moment longer her lips were on his own. She tasted of springtime and life with fire and ice all rolled into one singular moment. Surely a kiss wasn't the proper way to perform this particular spell but who was he to argue with an Enchantress. He may not have kissed her back but he didn't pull away either and without realizing it he relaxed his fists and placed a gentle hand on her arm to steady them both.

Then as soon as it happened it was over and Adam waited. He waited for the pain and the anguish to wash over him like a storm on the horizon.

But it never came.

His eyes burst open and he looked around himself to see Chip near the door of the cottage looking slightly sickened by what he had just seen. The Enchantress stood in front of another gilded mirror, much like the same mirror in the previous room she had shown them. Her back was to him as if she had not just lavished his lips with her kisses.

He gazed at his hands, his human hands, and shook them as if he could not believe what he was seeing.

"We had a deal!"

"And I have kept my part of it."

She took a step away from the mirror to reveal another image where Adam's reflection should be.

His daughter, damp with sweat but breathing calmly as if she had only just recovered from a terrible fever and nothing more. Mrs. Potts and Elizabeth were at her side, feeling her forehead and clutching each other in tears of joy as they realized that she was out of danger.

Adam touched the reflection only for it to disappear. "What of my part in the bargain, my lady?"

"I know you think me a monster, Little Prince. However, I am not so evil that I would not give you a chance to get your affairs in order. You have until midnight tonight to ensure your household is well. In the safety of your home you will change and you are free to do with your new altered life as you wish."

"What is there to do with a life like that?"

"That is for you to choose. But...perhaps give it a chance. This beasty might have something to teach you yet."

There didn't seem to be anything to say to that. So he only spoke the most important thing on his mind. "And she is safe? She will live?"

"For many years to come. I do hope someday you can bring yourself to tell her why it is that she lives. She deserves to know."

Without hesitation Adam knelt to the floor and taking her hand he placed a soft kiss on her ethereal skin.

"My thanks, Lady Enchantress. For everything you have done for me."

"Do not look for me again. I would not interfere with your life for anything. No matter the cost or what you are willing to endure."

"As you wish."

"Off with you. You haven't much time."


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

 **-Yay! Sunday posting. I hope everyone is having a lovely summer! And a really special shout out to Ladivina and SC (guest) -(sorry, that is how it appears in the emails!) You have written me such AMAZING reviews and I want you to know I honestly read them about a dozen times each. I am so grateful for them. And anyone that reviews! I appreciate you so much. I would honestly not have nearly as much steam to keep this thing going without such constructive and positive feedback.**

 **-I am very excited for everyone to read this chapter. It might not go exactly how you think it should or could but I can assure you that it all falls into the master scheme of things. There is a method to the madness and it will all work itself out in the end. You'll see! :)**

 **-There are some great moments in here too, so enjoy!**

 **\- Have a wonderful week and I will post again in a few days! Please read and review!**

* * *

 **"Burning House"- Cam**

 **I had a dream about a burning house**  
 **You were stuck inside, I couldn't get you out**  
 **I laid beside you and pulled you close**  
 **And the two of us went up in smoke**  
 **Love isn't all that it seems I did you wrong**  
 **I'll stay here with you until this dream is gone**

 **I've been sleepwalking**  
 **Been wandering all night**  
 **Trying to take what's lost and broke**  
 **And make it right**  
 **I've been sleepwalking**  
 **Too close to the fire**  
 **But it's the only place that I can hold you tight**  
 **In this burning house**

* * *

The moment they stepped out of the cottage it disappeared along with the gate, the pathway and all the unnerving creatures. Instead they stood in a meadow with the morning sky just beginning to make its way across the horizon. The pair of men found their Captain Luis curled inside a patch of clover covered in shimmery dust, humming to himself. Upon first inspection Adam tried to shake him awake and was met with a slobbering smile as Captain Luis opened his dazed eyes, whispered something incomprehensible, and then planted a wet kiss on Adam's mouth.

Snorting once, Chip began to haul the inebriated man to his feet. "How many times are you going to be kissed tonight? Do I need to take a turn?"

Adam put one of Luis arm's over his own shoulders and they began to make their way back to the horses. "Don't you dare! And never speak of it for as long as you live."

"Do you think he will be alright?"

"I'm sure he's just drunk off whatever insanity was lurking about out here. Hopefully he'll snap out of it."

After this initial conversation there wasn't much else to say. They reached the castle so quickly Adam paused at the gates and contemplated the stones for a moment.

"Your Highness?" Chip murmured when they did not move for several moments.

"What shall I tell them? How can I make them all understand?"

"They will understand, sire. And those that do not don't need to understand the details."

"Will you take him? I...want to see my children...one more time."

If Chip found this declaration odd he didn't speak of it. Adam left his horse with his Master of the Hunt and quickly found his way to the nursery where both his daughters slept soundly in the same bed. When their governess spotted him she smiled and stood as if to tell him the good news. He only shushed her and asked for the privacy he desperately needed.

Once she was gone, Adam removed his boots and jacket and with more gentleness then he was capable of he sat down on the bed and curled up next to his two princesses. Neither stirred and he held their hands and kissed their faces. Soon the panic inside him ebbed away and he could only see their tiny, but healthy, breathing bodies and their sweet, rose-shaped mouths.

He whispered every promise to them of all the things that he wanted for their lives. He told them of their futures and what they would accomplish and how much their parents loved them. They may not have heard it but he hoped they could feel it.

When the sun was high in the sky and Princess Isabelle finally opened her eyes and smiled at her father with her signature mischievous smile. He held his finger to his lips and smiled back at her trying desperately to remember every facet of her face. She was going to be devilish charming and he hoped that she would be the bane of every existence that came in contact with her.

"She's still sleeping." Isabelle commented with a touch of melancholy.

"She'll wake up soon, Beasty."

"They said she was going to die and then she got better. Did God do that?"

"I believe he had a hand in it but we'll have to ask Him sometime."

"Are things going back to normal?"

Adam paused and thought about how he was going to have to live with knowing he would never see her again. This would be her last memory of him.

"You...and your sister... are going on a grand adventure."

"To where?"

"My uncle has been begging to see you again and I need you to tear his home apart. Start with the throne room."

"Why the throne room?"

Adam smiled, "He's the king and wants all of us to come live at the palace like proper royal members of the court. I need you to change his mind."

"That weaselly cur!"

"Indeed. I want you to create more mischief then you have ever done in your entire life."

"Will you be there?"

"I need to stay here for a little while. I will see you when my business is through."

"I miss you when you are gone."

Adam swallowed hearing his fearless daughter look so lost. He gathered her in his arms and kissed her as many times as he could without weeping and then set her down on her feet.

"Never forget, Beasty, how much your father loves you. Tell your sister? Tell her how much I love her?"

"I will."

"Tell her how I would die for you if I could. Tell her that you were my reason."

"Your reason for what?"

"Just tell her please?"

"Yes, Father."

He kissed her once more and bent over and held his eldest without waking her. She was already devastatingly beautiful and he felt a sense of validation in his horrible bargain. Such beauty should not be taken from the world twice. It would not do to have a soul as useless as his own stay when she would go. A fair trade, he believed.

When Adam exited the nursery he was met with a dozen of the most miserable looking eyes he had ever seen. The royal governess returned to her post inside and to prepare the young princesses for their inevitable journey.

Mrs. Potts' face was blotchy and red. She looked at Adam as if he had already died.

"You informed them that they are spared?"

Chip snorted. "They are not upset for themselves."

"Adam..." Chip's mother trembled in her handkerchief.

He put up a hand and took a step away from his advisers. "Please...I still have to take care of this. Then we shall talk. But let me finish this first. I don't... have..."

"Much time. We know." Lumiere mumbled without looking at his master. "We will be ready when you are."

"Can the girls be moved?" He asked Cogsworth.

"As long as she is allowed to rest in a bed she should make it to his Majesty's winter palace in a few days."

"Pack what you like and I trust all of you to depart by nightfall."

"Not on a cold day in 'ell"

Adam paused. "You are to go with them."

"And who, pray tell, is going to stay here with you?" Cogsworth interjected with just a little huffiness

"No one. This castle needs to be emptied by tomorrow morning. Understood?"

Chip stood as if to square off, knowing that Adam could put him in the ground if he wanted to.

"You are my prince and will die for you but you are going to have to make that a reality if you think I'm leaving this castle without you."

"Where would we go, dearest? This is our home."

"Don't be ridiculous! You will go to Paris with my Uncle or to MY winter palace or wherever you like."

"You are our 'ome."

"Please...just go..."

For a moment no one spoke and then Cogworth stepped forward. "Master, I have never refused a request from you in your entire life. No matter the consequence or my opinion on the matter. Even when you were the worst kind of spoiled child. I would refuse you nothing. Except this. I will not leave you here alone."

"Give it up, Adam, we stay."

He tried. He tried to be furious. He tried to make his hands toss that end table across the room and take Chip by his stupid lapels and shake him until his blond head rocked back and forth. But he just couldn't. He was just so tired. He put his hands over his face and tried to breath. He stood there for what felt like hours forcing the panic back down. Forcing the tidal wave that was inevitably coming. When Mrs. Potts finally put her arms around his hunched shoulders he jerked back in alarm as would any animal.

"Do as you wish then, I care not!" He muttered as he fled their presence hoping they had not seen his scrunched face and hollow eyes. He had to keep it together for as long as possible.

* * *

The late afternoon was rapidly coming to a close. Adam could smell the change in the air as the heat of the summer day ebbed away to a cooler nightfall. He would have to light a lamp soon when the darkness would begin to creep upon the castle walls. He furiously wrote letter after letter, calling his man into the room and sending him back out again with a frenzy of paper and ink. His hands ached and his eyes burned from the tedious task but he continued to write regardless. He could have jumped out of his skin when he heard the door creek just as the sun began to set into the west. Looking up from his desk in surprise, he immediately came to his feet.

His heart hammered in his chest as all he could utter was her name. "Elizabeth..."

"Adam..." She murmured back. She had been crying. Her hair was messy and she seemed to have slept in her clothes as they were rumpled and unwashed. And yet, she was still beautiful to him. All encompassingly beautiful. Every beautiful thing in this world wrapped up onto one human being. And for that brief moment that they looked at one another from across the room he was able to forget.

Holding out his arms she rushed into them and crushed her small body against his. He wrapped his arms into her hair and about her shoulders, touching her soft skin and gentle frame. He needed to memorize her, the way he had done his daughters. He needed to put her into a place in his mind where she could stay this way forever. This vision of beauty and grace with just a hint of amazement on her face as she looked up into his eyes.

"How did you do it?" She murmured as he touched her face with the tips of his fingers.

"It doesn't matter" he whispered back lovingly. "She is safe."

"You saved her."

"I had to. For you, for her."

"Adam..." She whispered again and he couldn't help it. He leaned over and kissed her with so much love it was bursting from his chest. He let himself get lost in it. The most perfect of kisses between two people so far away from one another. As if a bridge was built for just this moment so that they could meet in the middle and find the peace they both desperately needed. He kissed her softly and caressed her neck and face letting his hands run gently down her chest and around her waist. She melted into him and for a moment they were home. In a way they had never been home. The place they had always wanted to be with one another and they had finally found it.

When it felt as if they would be bound together forever Adam let his head fall just a little so that they were cheek to cheek but still pressed to one another as if they were one person.

He felt a tremor through his body as he allowed the panic and fear to take over him once again and knew what would happen next but also knowing that the cost was so much more than he was able to pay.

Gripping her tightly to him he kissed her cheeks once more and with a deep breath willed the man he wanted to be to recede to the back of his mind so that he could do what needed to be done.

"I am never to see you again."

Elizabeth froze in the way people do when they have received a glancing blow, unable to pull away.

"You have two hours to get as much of your life together as you wish to take with you and you will leave and never set foot here again."

Finally she found her footing and wrenched herself free from Adam's iron grip.

"What can I do to change your mind?"

"Nothing. You are banished! You will live with my cousin in London. He will agree to take you on as his ward and do with you as he see's fit. Unless you would wish for me to return you to your father in disgrace? Or allow the justice of the people to take affect for your lechery."

She shook her head as tears began to fall from her eyes in earnest. Adam felt his father's voice leave his own lips. Cruel and brokering no argument.

"You will do everything in your power to maintain the model of chastity and virtue or my hands will be tied."

"And our children?"

"You will be permitted to visit _my_ daughters when I can stomach the idea. Until then you will strive to earn their respect back while I strive to repair the damage you have inevitably done to their reputations."

A whimpering sound escaped her lips as she looked longingly into his blue eyes.

"And you and I?"

For a moment he hesitated as if he would steal himself from any further pain, and then once again returned to fire and steel in his gaze.

"I never wish to see you again. I can only strive to hope you will find some peace in that decision."

"Adam...please don't do this..."

Unable to look at the fear he was causing her with his lies he turned his gaze away.

"Leave me."

He did not need to look up as she fled the room in a flurry of tears. He didn't need to see the door swing shut as his love, his bride, left his life. Taking a stumbling step to his desk he missed his chair by a few inches and came to the floor in a slump, unable to bare the pretense. The man his father always wished he was slowly sunk back into the darkness it came out of, leaving Adam a shell of himself. He took a shaky breath and then another, still feeling her warm lips against his own, her soft breasts against his chest, her light fingers in his hair. He would call her back if he had had any time left. But he did not and so he let her run to her rooms and then out the door, then the front gates and away from his arms where he was sure she still belonged.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

 **Happy-Middle-Of-The-Week-Day!**

 **As promised I am here to post a chapter. I am so grateful to all those who are reading this, even if you aren't reviewing. The traffic stats of the story went down a whole bunch this week and it really bummed me out so I want to thank all those who are still reading. I'm not sure how to get more people reading it but hopefully there are more out there then I realize. I love this little fic and put so much work into it. I want as many people to read it as I can! I realize it's kind of wordy and not horribly action driven but I hope more people will come and read it. It's pretty good!**

 **-The last two chapters have been gut wrenching and...this one is no different. This chapter as well as the next, oh, about five chapters address an interesting part of the canon of Beauty and the Beast that I've always found really interesting when Glen Keane and Linda Wolverton were creating this amazing story and the characters in it. In the movie the animators and script writers explored the idea that part of the curse was that the prince would continually become more and more beast-like. They even wanted to include dead animal carcasses into the ascetic of the west wing. There were comments saying that if he hadn't broken the spell then he would eventually lose all of his humanity completely. Other fiction has explored this and sometimes it works and sometimes it turns the story really unpleasant. I feel like if Adam were presented with the outcome of becoming a beast again that would be on the forefront of his mind.**

 **-So these next few chapters really go into those details and also explores a lot of repressed issues Adam has not dealt with after he became human. I feel like at the end of the movie we have this shining golden prince (and in the 2017 version we have Dan Stevens who literally makes me melt!) who is just chuffed to bits about being human again. We never really get to see what becoming human does to him and if I know humans (which I don't really! They are so confusing!) I doubt he was actually mentally okay and probably never has been. I wanted to delve into his issues and what he did with them and what happens when you keep things bottled up for too long. If we look at it closely I would imagine having your entire body transformed back and forth miiiiiiight be considered a bit traumatic. Whether he "deserved" it or not.**

 **-Also, when Adam calls Cogsworth _"Horloge"_ He is essentially calling him _"Clock"_. I don' t speak french but I tried to find the word that was closest to that.**

 **-Sorry this intro is so long. This chapter was rough to write and I want my readers to really have access to what was happening inside my head. I'm going to be out of the US for a bit so times might be kind of wonky for a little while on posting but I will still try to get two chapters out a week. I know this one is left on a frustrating note! That was kind of my point!**

 **-As always, please read and review and freakin' ENJOY!**

* * *

 **"Alibi" The Strange Familiar**

 **Can't compromise me for you**  
 **That kind of trade would never do**  
 **Wearing shoes that don't quite fit**  
 **You lose yourself bit by bit**  
 **Completely alone now, blank page beginning**  
 **Empty head the world is spinning**  
 **Control the strings, dancing puppet on a stage**  
 **A cage**

 **The lights are going down**  
 **In every city town**  
 **But you'll be fast asleep**  
 **There's no one that can keep**  
 **The love out of your heart**  
 **And when you fall apart**  
 **Just hold your head up high**  
 **You have an alibi in me**

* * *

Hours past and it was in a frenzy of anxiety that Cogsworth and Lumiere finally found their master sitting on the floor of the entrance to the West Wing. The door was ajar but as it had been shut up for over a decade, it was a surprise to find it was Adam who had broken inside. Surrounded by several suspicious bottles, only to make it as far as the doorway before curling up the floor to drown his sorrows.

"Ah, my comrades!" he slurred drunkenly as they entered the dimly lit space. "So good of you...to finally join me here!"

"Master! We thought for sure you had done something rash!"

Adam swiveled his head around to look at Cogsworth through the hair hanging down over his eyes. "Such as?"

"Well I... Something dangerous!"

"Tell me, is this dangerous? I can't seem to read the bottle. They've written something here. Does it say _'dangerous!'"?_

Adam swung the bottle of wine up to Cogsworth' face, spilling a good deal on the floor and nearly clocking the older man in the nose.

Lumiere gently pushed the bottle back down, away from splashing range. "Non, sire. It does not."

"Hmm! Well then, I guess I'm not in any danger, am I, _Horloge_!"

Lumiere coughed a little to cover his laughter and Cogsworth counted backwards from ten. Surly, it was the drink talking.

"Master-" Cogsworth began soothingly.

"Has my family fled the castle yet? I heard such a ruckus downstairs I had to come all the way up here to this dung heap to escape all the noise. Also, this helped!" He once again held up his bottle and smiled at it fondly before taking a large drink.

"Your daughters are safely on zeir way. Zey reached ze village by sundown and will arrive in Paris by tomorrow night."

Adam flopped his head around as if to indicate that he had heard and understood.

"And ze princess is-"

Adam perked up for a moment and looked his advisors square in the eye, though he seemed a little dazed and unfocused at times. "She is so beautiful, no?"

Cogsworth sighed as if trying to bare something heavy. "Aye, sire. She is."

"It's a shame really. Perhaps I should have just hopped in bed with her and that...What was he again?"

Lumiere blinked for a moment but then responded "Ah, footman."

"Ah, well, it was selfish of me to think I could keep her all to myself, really! That's what she said, you know." Adam paused as if he couldn't quite find the words and swayed a little on the ground. " 'Spoiled...selfish...and unkind...' That's what she called me. Twenty-five years ago...The Enchantres….Do you remember?... And she was right!"

Lumiere shook his head emphatically. "Non, sire, non."

Taking another large swig, he closed his eyes and let his head fall against the wall behind him. "She's gone though...I can see Elizabeth right behind my eyes. But she's gone."

"Perhaps, Your Highness, if we had just explained it to her... Don't you think perhaps she may have understood?"

Adam opened his eyes and gave Cogsworth such a look of meaning that all three men sunk a little in their tired bodies. They all knew the answer to that question.

"There was only one person, one woman, who could have understood…... _what I am_... You know it was not Elizabeth. You know who it was and now she is gone too."

Lumiere gave a small sigh at the sadness that hung in the air with Belle's name on it. "But did she 'ave to leave, Sire?"

Adam nodded and swayed a little again. "I have kept this secret from her for our entire marriage. I would not be able to hide from her for long if she were still roaming the halls like a miserable wraith. How would you feel if you woke up one day and realized that the man you married...was really...a monster? You shared your bed and your body with a monster? Bore his children? Was it so much to ask to just...be a normal man, married to a normal woman? To fall in love the way a man and a woman fall in love? God, I just wanted to be normal...To have one thing in my life that wasn't touched by...magic!?"

Cogsworth cocked his head to the side and gave Adam a stern look. "Part of having a normal marriage is honesty."

Lumiere looked over at the other man with exasperation coloring his face. "What would you know of it? You 'ave never married. And for zat matter...what would Elizabet' know of it? Zere was nozing 'onest in what 'appened wiz zat upstart footman."

Adam bumped his head against the wall a little more forcefully then he intended. His depth perception was almost non-existent. "It doesn't matter now. The truth of it is...she is gone and I have no one to blame but myself. I should have told her long before I married her. But I didn't and there is no forgiveness for that. This will be my penance."

"Master, is there anything I can do?" Cogsworth asked, looking helplessly at his master.

Adam gave a self deprecating smile up to his Major Domo. "You can get me more of this." He held up his bottle again.

"I seem to have misplaced a large amount of wine. Not sure how that happened. I need a little more I think..."

Cogsworth glowered at the bottle swinging in his face. "Are you sure that is wise-"

Adam gripped Cogsworth's hand to steady himself and looked up at the older man. "In no more than two hours, I am to endure more pain than anybody should ever experience. I have lost my daughters, my wife, and my soul. And now, on the brink of such darkness, you would deny me anything that might deaden the suffering?"

Cogsworth sighed heavily again and without word, exited the room.

Lumiere watched in amazement as Adam shook his shaggy head just a little and seemed to shed the majority of what appeared to be his drunkenness. Setting his bottle down, he reached inside his coat and pulled out a perfectly crafted pistol. Then reaching into the other side of his coat he pulled up several bullets to match that particular pistol.

Lumiere didn't move, but putting his head to the side, watched as Adam loaded the pistol and held it up for his Butler to see.

"Are you going to shoot me, Master?" Lumiere smiled down at the man on the floor holding the pistol.

Adam smiled back. "Non, Mon Ami, You are going to shoot me."

Lumiere breathed what would be a laugh through his nose and tried to see where the joke was coming from.

When Adam solemnly reached to hand up with the pistol in offering, what was left of Lumiere's smile faded away.

"I would never."

"You must!"

"But, why?"

"The Enchantress said that it would go back to the very moment Belle broke the spell."

"Oui, and you will still be you. You cannot choose to end your life."

"Lumiere, it is not a suicide I ask for. Before Belle came to the castle I was...fading. I wasn't myself anymore. After those ten years had passed I would cease to be Adam."

"But you are still Adam."

"I might not be when this magic changes me. I might go right back to where I was heading when Belle came to us."

"But you might not, you could still be you."

"And if we are wrong?"

"I do not know. We will be able to decide when ze times comes. But you cannot choose to die on a fear."

"We might not have that chance! I can feel it, Lumiere. Its coming and I cannot stop it. I don't know what I will be on the other side of this."

"I won't do it! I will not murder my Prince!"

"You must! I'm asking you to do this for me!"

"We can find anozer way!"

Adam rose onto his knees but was still entirely too inebriated to stand without falling over. So he grabbed Lumiere's arms and held them tight, desperately trying to stay focused on the task at hand.

"I will kill them! Do you understand!? I will murder them, eat them, tear their bodies apart. I won't know any better. To me, you will be food! You won't be able to murmur your sweet words of friendship and loyalty to me in enough time before I tear your head from your body with my teeth. I will be a monster and nothing of what I am now can be reached. Please! Mon Dieu, Please, I cannot live knowing I will hurt them, hurt you! I won't be able to stop! Please, for the love of God, please, don't make me _kill_ myself."

Adam, unable to control the panic any longer, rested his forehead against Lumiere's hands and let one helpless sob escape his throat. He had so wanted to remain calm and yet he could not escape the rising tide. Gritting his teeth so hard he could hear them breaking and feeling his whole body tremble with knowing what was about to happen.

"Please." Was all he was able to say over and over again until finally Lumiere reached for the pistol and hated himself more than he had ever hated anyone in his life.

Adam sank back down to a sitting position and pressed the heel of his hand into his eyes to try and gain some control over his outburst. Lumiere allowed his own tears to fall as he held the pistol as far from his body as possible.

"I would not do zis for ze wide world, My Prince."

"Don't allow anyone inside until you know it is over. I would not...I would not have you see me that way again."

"Very well."

"When it is time..."

"Mon Dieu..."

Adam continued despite the look of pain on his Butler's face. "Don't hesitate. End it. Don't give me the chance to end you."

"As you wish, Your 'ighness." And unable to stomach the sight of his broken friend sitting on the floor, surrounded by wine bottles and sorrow, Lumiere fled taking all the light from the room with him.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

 **HEY EVERYONE! I'm here! Sorry for the delay in posting this week. Jet lag after traveling from the US to Southeastern Asia is a BEAST! I'm still a zombie! I promise I'll keep the chapters on track as much as I can from here on out.**

 **-Anyhoodle, I am so excited for you to read this chapter. It's one of my favorites in that it rips my heart out and stomps on it. But it was amazingly fun and heartbreaking to write. Love it!**

 **\- There is a flashback in here and I know that those always get mixed reviews but it is was essential and so I hope you won't have to roll your eyes too hard at it.**

 **-I cannot wait to keep going with this and I will try my darndest to post another chapter at the end of this week. PLEASE read and review as this has been such a lifeline for me while I travel abroad!**

 **Have such a great week everyone!**

* * *

 **"The Longest Night" Howie Day**

 **It's enough, just to find love**  
 **It's the only thing to be sure of**  
 **So hard, to let go of**  
 **A thousand times or more**  
 **I was close to a fault line**  
 **Heaven knows, you showed up in time**  
 **Was it real?**  
 **Now I feel, like I'm never coming down**

 **So here we are, set into motion**  
 **Steal a car, crash in the ocean**  
 **You and I, caught in a fading light**  
 **On the longest night**

 **I recall when we were together**  
 **Even now it seems like forever**  
 **So alive caught in a fading light**  
 **On the longest night**

 **Can we go too far to find, what is waiting here?**  
 **A little fall from grace**  
 **On the longest night**

* * *

Adam waited. The sound of the grandfather clock ticking in the hallway was torture and he would have put his fist through its smug face if he could have walked a straight line. He tried to make a list in his head of the benefits of what was about to happen. He thought, perhaps, he would lose his mind completely and Lumiere would have to shoot him clear in the face. Then he would die tragically and perhaps his soul would join Belle's and he would...do whatever it is souls do in their afterlife.

Then again, he mused, perhaps he would keep his mind and simply be a beast again. Perfect hearing, smell, and eyesight fine tuned for hunting in the dark. His sense of taste would be a little spotty as things like, say, blood would suddenly be more delicious than chocolate. He was certain he could curb that.

Of course, reality drowns out those sad attempts to make this seem a livable option. Hulking form, hair literally all over his body, talons, tusks, horns...

"God!" He murmured, "I wish Lumiere would just shoot me now!"

The sound of his own voice startled him and he sank back on his heels just beginning to wonder if the Enchantress had been mistaken about the time. He was sure he had heard the clock strike twelve hours before.

The moon had risen and was bright enough to bring some light into the West Wing. He looked up to see the portrait of Belle hanging on the wall where it had always been and would always be. It was the portrait done shortly after her coronation and it looked nothing like her. An enormous gown, bedecked in the crown jewels. But always that small smile playing on her face. Even time could not erase its charm.

Amist all the finery of the portrait, her position was in perfect light for Adam to see her hand at her waist. On it glinted her wedding ring. Plain, unassuming, and perfect for Belle. She had loved that ring. He wished he still had it. He could have used its comfort at a time like this. He remembered the exact last time he saw it.

* * *

 _'Belle, the carriage is waiting. Your Abigail said something was wrong.'_

 _Belle turned to face her young husband with a look of dismay. She held up a plain band of gold with a small crest engraved on the outside and three little words on the inside._

 _'It doesn't fit, Adam. I can't get it to fit on my fingers anymore. Not even the little one.'_

 _She was, of course, referring to the fact that she was eight months pregnant and that she had grown so plump and beautiful that the dressmakers couldn't keep up with her growing waistline. But pregnancy suited her and it only make Adam want her more._

 _'You don't have to wear it. You can keep it in your pocket.'_

 _Belle gave him a look of consternation and he immediately looked sheepish. 'Adam, I will lose it if I keep it in my pocket.'_

 _Adam, at the tender age of twenty-two, was still trying to navigate the treacherous world of being an heir to the throne and having a pregnant wife all in the same year._

 _"Perhaps...I could keep it in my pocket...?"_

 _Belle glared at him a little. "You will definitely lose it, then"_

 _Adam had to reluctantly agree with her as he had lost his own signet ring twice._

 _"Well, if it's in such danger it can stay here in your room. I am sure no one will mistake you for being an unmarried woman riding in the Prince's carriage next to me."_

 _Belle immediately looked forlorn at the prospect. "I know, I just...hate not wearing it. It means...you're mine and I'm yours."_

 _"That will not change with a ring, Belle."_

 _"I know..."_

 _Adam shook his head and then smiled at her. "The only obvious solution is to not go. You are right, my love. This is far too important to leave here and we will just have to stay behind and protect it."_

 _As he was speaking he had pulled out his horse tail and started to unbutton his vest._

 _Belle shook her head fervently and laid her hand on his. "You have to go. Your uncle is waiting."_

 _The smile disappeared from his face. "Then you stay and protect the ring. You are far past your days of confinement anyway. I was mad to have- "_

 _"I'm going with you."_

 _"You could end up having my heir in the back of a carriage! Or worse! In a barn somewhere with sheep gawking back at your-"_

 _Belle put a few fingers over his lips and shook her head. "I'll be with you when it happens and that is all that matters."_

 _Adam, defeated, knew he would not win this argument as he had not for the last sixteen times they had had it._

 _"What are we to do about your ring?"_

 _In the end it was Mrs. Potts who solved the problem. Taking a piece of Belle's coat she sewed a secret compartment inside the bodice over the top of her heart. The ring was stitched in so tightly there wasn't any possibility of it coming loose on its own._

 _"My Chip loses things constantly, so most of his clothes have a few of these patches!" She chattered as she sewed the ring in with perfect stitches. "This way it will be right next to your heart if you ever feel a little lost." Smiling up at her dear Princess, Mrs. Potts kissed Belle for what would be the last time._

* * *

And Adam, fifteen years later, could still picture the spot where her ring had been. He had taken his own off years ago but he wished more than anything that, somehow, it could have saved them both.

He wished-

But whatever he was wishing would have to wait. His stomach did a terrible flip and all too quickly it began to writhe. As if snakes had slowly crawled inside him and were turning circles inside his gut. Adam immediately regretted all the wine and knew that it was only a matter of moments before he lost control of his faculties, fully clothed.

As quickly as he could, he removed his clothing and flung them away from himself into the darkness. He sat on the cold stone floor, bare naked and shivering, as his insides did somersaults and he tried to keep his face impassive in hopes the change would happen quickly.

His muscles started to spasm and itch. As if starting from someplace deep within him. His bones began to ache and wriggle, moving of their own accord. The discomfort was great but not unbearable and Adam tried to brace himself for the moment when it would feel real. If he could just focus he could get through this with some dignity. He thought of his Rosebud and the rest of his family and tried to feel a sense of relief at his choice to do this.

As if coming to the eye of a storm, everything stopped. Complete calm entered his body and he looked down on his naked self. It looked to be the same pale carcass he had always had. If a bit thin and wiry since the days of his youth. He looked about himself thinking, or hoping, the Enchantress had changed her mind when it hit him in full force.

He had let his mind wander and in doing so was not prepared for the level of pain that exploded over his whole body. He screamed desperately and hunched over, swimming in anguish as his entire figure ripped itself in two. Every human function happened at once and he found himself covered in warm wet liquid as he slumped forward into puddles of his own mess. He gagged several times and tried to hold himself together as bones crunched, skin sizzled, and sinews audibly tore from his shape. A fire started from the inside of his throat and descended down to his bowels burning everything in their wake. He was being hallowed out as his form continued to expand and tear through his human body. A ripping sound echoed in his ears as his skull broke and tore down his face leaving bloody cracks where his nose and cheeks should be. New teeth ripped from his mouth and he gripped his lungs futilely trying to get air. A loud popping sound hit him over and over as his spine ripped out his back and shifted his legs into impossible positions to make room. He was a map of misery and tearing humanity and there was nothing he could do to stop it or take his mind from anything but the most inhuman torture.

As it happened, through it all, he cried out in agony that could be heard clear down the hallway and into every room on the floor. He screamed and begged for relief in a way he never thought possible. He would die, he was sure of it. No one should have to live through this. Surely death would be better. But through it all he stayed impossibly alive and painfully awake. And he would hate himself completely for being unable to withstand the change with composure.

He called out to his God for mercy and relief. He begged the angels and the saints and any name or consequence that might come to him for the pain to stop. When no heavenly messengers rescued him, he called for Mrs. Potts, Lumiere, Cogsworth, Elizabeth, anyone. Anyone to please help him. Please to come to him. But they knew their orders and how incredibly unprepared they were to help him except to completely end his suffering eternally.

Then when he realized it would never stop and that no one was coming to end this madness he called for his Belle. He sobbed out her name until his voice was no longer a voice but an unrecognizable growl and even then he howled for her, his heart unable to hold the pain and anguish he felt. He begged for her presence and for her forgiveness. It was her face, her delicate, intelligent face that he saw in his agony. The minutes ticked by for infinities until finally it stopped and he was blessed with the numbing oblivion he had been desperately calling for, her name still on his now beastly lips.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

 **-Hello, My Darlings! Greetings from the Land of Smiles and horrific jet lag! I am posting another chapter!**

 **-As always THANK YOU Ladivina and SC (Guest)! You are both amazing. If anyone else out there is reading this I would love your thoughts and insights. Reviews=Love**

 **-So if the lyrics "Hello Darkness my old friend..." start running through your head during this chapter... you and I are on the same page!**

 **-And Ladivina, *drum roll* here is the moment you are waiting for...and it's probably not as epic as you were picturing but you were right and that's all that matters**

 **-Love me a Jon Milton quote and a little Chip scheming!**

 **-Have such a good week and tell all your Beauty and the Beast loving friends about my amazing fic! The more the merrier around here.**

* * *

 **(I am a huge fan of this artist so I had to add at least one or two of their songs into my lyric repertoire)**

 **Half Alive- Secondhand Serenade**

 **Well, excuse me while I get killed softly**  
 **Heart slows down and I can hardly tell you Im okay**  
 **At least till yesterday you know you caught me off my highest guard**  
 **Believe me when I say it's hard, well get through this tonight**

 **And I know one day you and I will be free**  
 **To live and die by our own rules**  
 **Free despite the fact that men are fools**

 **Im almost alive**  
 **And I need you to try and save me**  
 **Its okay that were dying**  
 **But I need to survive tonight, tonight**

The moon had set hours prior and still the household waited. The screams from hell had ceased and all was still as death. A solitary figure watched as the sky slowly started to tinge with light and leave a blue glow through the stained glass windows. His thin, genteel frame slowly made its way to the door of the West Wing. Putting his hand on the handle he pulled out the hated pistol from inside his jacket.

"God forgive me..." His voice trembled as he cocked the gun expertly and knew that he would not miss his target as much as he would like to. Lumiere was an excellent shot.

The door creaked angrily as he pulled it open and left it ajar stepping into the darkness of the Master's own rooms. He waited for his eyes to adjust or to be blasted by the demon upon first light falling over his face. When no sound was heard he took a cautious step into the room. It remained irritatingly dark and Lumiere swallowed hard hoping he would at least hear Adam before his skin became acquainted with the other man's talons. The gun firmly in front of him he scanned the room until finally his eyes fell on a massive shape standing near the window. The hulking form came into perfect relief and Lumiere stifled a gasp of surprise, holding his pistol arm up in line with the monster. Taking a few more steps into the room Lumiere was now able to see the Beast perfectly and would have made to speak to it had it not turned slowly to look him square in the face.

Lumiere felt stunned. Those eyes, those massive blue eyes, looking at him through a mane of dark fur were as terrifying as they were enchanting. Surely that was intelligence looking back at him through those eyes. Lumiere wet his lips still holding up the gun. The Beast continued to look at Lumiere without moving even a single hair. He almost missed the strange hunched posture and noticed that the creature in front of him held a firm paw to its side.

"Mon Ami, is zat you?"

His voice betrayed him and he wished he could sound more confident holding a loaded pistol. The Beast did not respond. In fact it huffed a little bit as if trying to determine the best angle of attack.

Lumiere took another step in the Beast's direction leveling the gun right over his opponent's heart. As he inched a little closer he realized that the paw to the side was slick and wet from something dark and dripping. Lumiere tried to make sense on how the Beast could have injured himself in such a place.

"Please, your 'ighness, say somezing." The Beast's head seemed to tilt just slightly and his eyes became hooded as if he was unaware of the words being spoken to him.

"Master..." Lumiere's voice had a pleading edge to it; wishing he could somehow reach the man inside the animal before him. Adam's words replaying in his mind, he trembled with anxiety over what he knew he must do and quickly.

"Please, forgive him." Putting his finger to the trigger, Lumiere took a deep breath.

"It is me, Lumiere." The voice was so gruff and inhuman it nearly startled the skinny butler into pulling the trigger regardless. He immediately pointed the gun at the floor and let out a sob that did not sound like him.

"Merde!" He murmured to himself as he angrily took out the bullets from the gun and threw them all to the floor.

"You would 'ave let me shoot you!"

"Would it have made any difference?" Again that voice was spine tingling and Lumiere knew that Adam could smell his fear.

"You bastard! You would 'ave me kill my prince and zen have me to go on knowing it waz for nozing!"

"Please, Lumiere, I need help-"

"NON! Non! You do not speak to me! I resign! I will not stay 'ere anozer minute! You can do as you like! Shoot yourself next time and save me ze trouble!"

And without another word Lumiere stormed from the room slamming the door behind him. His anger filled every corner of the massive stay rooms and Adam slowly sunk down onto the window seat on the balcony. Blood poured from the wound at his side as he again murmured into the darkness, watching one of his only friends vanish from his life along with any hope he had of freeing himself.

"Please….I need help…"

* * *

Three days passed and the Butler had efficiently packed his bags in record time but just as he was about to slip quietly into the night, cursing Adam's name to the devil, the snow began. At first it was light and everyone still remaining at Chateau de la Rose was only mildly surprised. It was still only September and was far too early for true blizzard weather. After a few hours it came down in earnest and Adam could smell and feel the cold set in like a wintry omen of death. It would go on to snow for another three days without any relief. The entire forest was covered in it and the grounds around the castle had all but vanished beneath mountains of white.

Lumiere sat in the main entryway knowing any chance he had of leaving his services to his prince were gone until the spring. No one was fleeing that castle any time soon.

Everyone else shivered under the blanket of despair. They had no idea what to do next. Their whole lives thrown into turmoil over the developments of their master's existence. He had not left the West Wing since the change and only Lumiere had seen him. The other Heads of House were baffled to the butler's sudden desire to leave Adam's services but as neither was speaking to anyone their secret would have to stay put.

Mrs. Pott's had attempted to speak to her unruly employer but wherever he was hiding in the West Wing was where she could not find him. It was on the first Sunday since the change that Chip found his mother, Cogsworth, Babette and Luis sitting by the West Wing doorway. He sat down next to her and took her cold hands in his.

"Well...are we going to live happily ever after, Mama?"

Mrs. Potts smiled at her son and he smiled back, the gap in his teeth more apparent then ever.

"I hope so. I only wish there was some way to bring him back to us."

"Ah, well, it was a low blow he suffered."

"What are we to do now?" This was Luis who had finally recovered from the fairy dusting he had experienced at the cottage.

"There must be a way out of this!" Cogsworth slammed his hand on the armrest of the chair he sat in.

"It's not going to come to us freezing to death in this hallway." Chip mused, rubbing the small beard he was growing on his chin.

"I only wish I could reach him somehow."

"Did you notice ze blood, Mrs. Potts?" Babette looked pale as she addressed the older woman.

She nodded gravely and put a hand on her mouth to hide her deep frown.

"Is 'e….?"

"Do you think it's the stab wound?" Chip looked alarmed and turned his head to stare at the closed West Wing door.

"I don't know….. He won't come out where I can find him. It's like he's vanished."

"Then we have to get him out of there, and out of his own mind."

"How?" This was Luis again. Chip had never really liked him. Certainly an unimaginative fellow.

"Well, we aren't going to do so well either if we don't come out of this melancholy we have found ourselves in."

"What do you mean, Chip?" Cogsworth asked leaning forwards in his chair.

"This castle isn't well suited for winter weather, if you remember correctly. We were not prepared for this type of storm. The towers and all the upper rooms need to be closed up as tightly as possible. We need to send out a hunting party soon, before all the animals go underground. We could very well starve to death before we get up off our arses. We're shut in here for the winter and we don't even have enough wood to keep us all warm in one room through next week."

"How many of us are left?"

"Six and ten" Cogsworth responded, feeling relieved he at least knew one helpful thing.

"The men I have left are abysmal. Six at most and only the codgers from the original spell. They won't last in the woods without more help." Chip grumbled.

"Send Lumiere. Wax brain has been sitting by the window like a lovesick fool for days."

"Oh, it is not lovesickness, Mon Ami. Trust me!" Babette smiled and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Chip ducked a smile at Cogsworth' aghast face and was secretly impressed with Babette. She was not a young woman and yet she still commanded the attentions of every man in the room.

"What exactly happened to him?" Chip mused and Mrs. Potts and Cogsworth gave each other knowing looks.

"Never you mind that, dear." She said rubbing his shoulder.

"So, what is our battle plan? Go in there and drag him out by his furry tail?" Luis leaned back in his seat and looked at the other's skeptically.

"We must give 'im a reason. "E is lost in imself in zere."

"But he won't come out enough for us to even talk to him."

"It's so dark in there…..he… he was always so afraid of the dark as a child. Do you remember, Cogsworth?"

Cogsworth nodded gravely. "His own personal hell and we're just standing out here twidling our thumbs." The former mantal clock did just that as if on cue.

Chip rubbed his small beard and squnted his eyes, remembering something. " _'_ _The mind is its own place and in itself, can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven._ _'"_

"What's that?" That was Luis and Chip gave him a smirk.

"John Milton. And I think he was onto something. I say….. if he won't leave then let's move in and make it a home. He'll either remove himself from the West Wing or eat us alive..."

"Those are the only two options?" Cogsworth eyed the boy incredulously.

"If we're all going to Hell anyway, then let's all go together. If he is going to sit and stew in the dark then he might as well do it with us."

"He's not going to like this."

"Let's not give him the choice."


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

 **Hey everyone! Sorry this took so long. I needed to revise this chapter to fit revisions and additions I have made to previous chapters and it turned out to be harder then I thought it would be with my busy schedule.**

 **-This one is heading back into a direction that is a little less gut wrenching and a little more hopeful, though we're not out of the woods yet. We've still got a few more important issues to work out before Adam can begin to find some happiness.**

 **-I feel like this chapter really showcases the big side characters. Mrs. Potts, Cogsworth, Chip. Gotta love these folks in this chapter.**

 **-As for Adam's stab wound, this is pretty much the last we're going to hear about it. It was never meant to be a major plot point but I did like the idea of the spell trying to revert him back to the exact moment he changed into a man and not quite getting far enough to kill him and how he didn't quite manage to escape unscathed.**

 **-It's not perfect and I still think it could have used some more work but it's not really meant to be a main event chapter so I'm not going to worry about it too much. We've got some even better stuff coming up that I am really excited to share and I will attempt to do so at a much quicker pace then I have been setting over the last three weeks.**

 **-Please review! It makes my day so much brighter and keeps me from getting into a mid-story slump!**

 **-Have such a great week everyone!**

* * *

 **"It Will Be Me" Melissa Etheridge**

 **If you need a friend**  
 **Call out to the wind**  
 **To hold you again**  
 **It will be me**

 **Oh, how the world seems so unfair**  
 **Creating a love that cannot be shared**  
 **As you go your way and I go mine**  
 **A light will shine**  
 **And it will be me**

 **In the sun and the moon**  
 **In the land and the sea**  
 **Look all around you**  
 **It will be me**

 **There is no mountain that I can't climb**  
 **For you I'd swim through the rivers of time**  
 **As you go your way and I go mine**  
 **A light will shine**  
 **And it will be me**

* * *

A few hours later, by mid-afternoon, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, Babette, Luis, Chip, and a small contingent of maids opened up the doors to the West Wing and filed into the darkness like an army.

Mrs. Potts and Cogsworth barked out a few orders and drug an old dusty chest into the room from the attic containing old clothing designed only for a large animal that walks on both two and four legs, has a tail and attends dinner parties.

Chip began building up a roaring fire in the massive fireplace. Oil lamps were lit, sheets were removed from furniture and a dusting commenced that would fill the room with sneezing.

Through it all, Adam did not materialize from his hiding place. At first Mrs. Potts was worried that he was not there at all but had escaped through the balcony. But the room became so much brighter and it was clear that he had been there very recently. A nest of blankets was next to the window, covered in blood. The food that Mrs. Potts had left was scattered all around the room as if he had flung it away from himself in hopes of starving. The maids quickly cleaned this and their small giggles and whispers filled up the space with a much needed lift.

When Mrs. Potts was satisfied with the cleanliness of the room the maids were dismissed until only Chip, Cogsworth, Babette, Luis and herself were seated around the fire occupying their time with idle chatter and menial tasks.

Finally, after Cogsworth was sure he would burst with not knowing where his master was, they heard a sound. Chip looked about himself and lifted an oil lamp to reveal a dark mass that reached into the rafters. It would appear that, somehow, Adam had got himself up upon the large bureau in the corner. It towered over everyone and would have been a perfect leaping spot if someone or something wanted an aerial attack. He could just make out the glittering blue eyes that looked down on them.

"Well well" Chip swallowed realizing how precarious their position was underneath such a terrifying creature as The Beast. "So good of you to join us, Master."

There was no answer. It was eerily silent aside from a slight huffing sound that reverberated into the rafters.

"Won't you come down, dear?" Mrs. Potts's voice could melt stone and the scraping sound indicated that it had done something for Adam.

At first there was no answer and then finally his voice came softer then would be expected out of such a massive chest as his. "Please...please just leave me be."

The hair rose on Cogsworth' neck while Chip rose to his feet and faced the direction the voice was coming from. "If you wish, we won't bother you. But if you stay here then we stay here."

"I don-don-don't want you to see me like this."

"Far too late for that, Your Grace." That was Luis and Chip was mildly impressed with his sass.

"Adam, dearest, we know how hard this must be for you. We want to help." Mrs. Potts turned her body to look up at him.

"You can't help me! There is no rose to count down the days; no girl coming to love me! Nothing anyone can do will help me!"

"We love you..."

There was a long pause as everyone held their breath. Then as if stealing himself for some horrible affair, Adam began to decent his perch like some force drawing him down to earth. They all watched in amazement as he literally crawled down the front of the bureau; head first, his claws digging into the wood like tissue paper. And then finally he emerged out of the darkness into the relative light. He was hulking and massive and had all of them not remembered this physical form in detail they may have shrunk away.

"You shouldn't. Look at me." The gash in his side had reopened and was again oozing blood onto the floor and Adam simply ignored it now that he realized it wasn't going to kill him.

"It was a very brave thing you did. Sacrificing yourself for your daughter. Not one of us could fault you for that, Master."

"I'm _begging_ you…..If you have any respect for me left….please go….God, please…."

The look of abstract misery on his alien face was heartbreaking. Chip took a step forward and extended his hand to his master. "Do you want to be human again?"

Adam didn't speak but looked at the extended hand wanting to rip it off and weep at the same time. Retorts swirling in his brain of the stupidity of the question unable to exit his mouth.

"More than anything..."

"Then we will find a way."

Again Adam opened his mouth to retort and Chip had the audacity to cut off his words. "Ah ah! No! We. Will. Find. A. Way. End of discussion."

Mrs. Potts rose to her feet as well and cautiously approached him as one would a mad man with a loaded gun. Speaking as if they were the only two in the room and putting a pair of soft hands on the paw at his side.

"Let me see…."

Adam glowered at her and tried to hold himself against her grasp. "I can take care of myself."

She gave him a stern look. "Licking it will not stop it from killing you. Let me see."

With resignation he allowed her to pull his hand away. Though it was bleeding as if fatal, upon further inspection it didn't appear to be more than a surface scratch. The look of consternation of Mrs. Potts's face was enough to bring Luis to Adam's side to come to those same conclusions after his own examination.

"What do you think it means?" he looked at her as if Adam wasn't even present.

"It means something went upside down in this spell."

"But he isn't dead."

"Very observant…" Adam muttered and winced as Mrs. Potts put a gentle finger right onto the wound as if she was some kind of surgeon.

"What should we do about it?"

Mrs. Potts turned her attention back to Adam who met her gaze defiantly but without any of his usual bluster. He just didn't have it in him. "What do you think, dearest? Will you let me help you?"

Those same words echoed in Adam's mind from what he had told Lumiere. He looked incredibly vulnerable for a moment and Mrs. Potts was instantly transported back to the day she watched him stand at his own mother's funeral. He had held that same look on his face then as he did now.

"What if it never heals? What if it's come back to finish what happened fifteen years ago?"

"Then the Enchantress is a fool to have agreed to all this magical nonsense only to have you drop dead from bleeding out like a stuck pig." Luis piped bluntly and Adam immediately looked at him in shock. He was sure had never been compared to a pig in his life and now the circle of humiliation was complete.

Mrs. Potts had to stifle a laugh that Chip and Cogsworth didn't quite manage to do. She touched his face with her free hand that wasn't smeared with blood and looked at him as only she could. "We'll patch you up, right nicely and you'll be as good as new. Then we're going to get you some clothes because heaven knows you need them."

Everyone had to smile just a little at the way he awkwardly turned his body back into the shadows as if just realizing he was in fact, baring himself for all to see. When no one made comment on Adam's nakedness she continued.

"Then we're all going to sit down and have a proper meal together with what food we have here at the castle."

Adam looked down at her as if she were speaking Greek. "You want me to go on as if nothing is amiss? As if this is not happening and I am not a monster fit for nightmares?"

"I want you….to trust us. Nothing good ever came from hiding up in these drafty rooms."

"And do what, precisely?" The more smart-mouthed Adam became the more the sunken misery leached out of him.

Chip smiled winningly up at his Prince. "You could come hunting with me. We've got to get ahead of the game before it goes underground."

"As what? Your prized hound?" The venom in Adam's voice was enough to raise the hairs on Chip's arms but he continued to plaster his annoying grin on his lips.

"Oh please, your sense of smell is far superior to my prized hound. Dumb mutt couldn't frisk out a rabbit in a sack."

"How flattering." Adam deadpanned.

"We don't have enough food, Your Highness." Cogsworth turned his body around to face his Prince. "We have to feed over sixty and stay in this drafty castle all winter. We were not prepared for this and...we're lost without you." Again Adam melted from stone back into flesh.

Turning his face away he looked at the balcony windows into the darkness of the late afternoon. "No more lost than I. It would only be the blind leading the blind."

"I would still follow you, Mon Capitaine!" Luis, of course.

Mrs. Potts took his bloody paw in one hand and try as he may he had no choice but to give her his full attention. "If you want to be angry then go ahead and be angry. Rage and howl and do whatever it is you do that makes you feel better. We will clean up the mess when you are done."

Adam swallowed a look of shame that instantly leapt onto his face at the thought of these people having to constantly repair the damage he always left in his wake. But Mrs. Potts was not finished with what she needed to say to him.

"If whatever is happening inside you is more than you can bear then do what you need to do to bear it. But when you can…come back to us. This is far from over, we know that. And a nice cup of tea and a warm fire may not fix everything but it will do you a world of good to see that you aren't dead yet. Nor will I allow you go without a fight. If you cannot muster up the strength then you let me do it for you, love. Until you're strong enough."

The fearsome look of determination on this little older woman's face was just enough to make Adam's crumple. He knew that deep down he was bound for the worst of it and there was no stopping what was coming. He could not deny the rush of need and gratitude that filled him up like a warm cup of tea.

"I cannot do this again…..I cannot….." His voice was barely a gravelly whisper and he couldn't bear to look her in the eye any longer.

"You can…and you will….find a way to come back to us when you can. Alright?"

With the most solemn of nods he allowed her to guide him like a child to his favorite armchair and as he lowered himself into it with a painful sigh something gave way to an odd sense of relief. As if some part of his curse had been lifted after all and he took one steadying breath after another. What else could he do after that but wait?


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

 **Hey Everyone! Look at me! I'm actually getting a chapter out on time!**

 **-I love this one. It's lighter then the last...five or so. It's winding up for a really great resolve and some awesome twists and turns so stay tuned.**

 **-I love the relationship between Adam and Chip and Lumiere. They are the men he bonds with. The ones that can bring him back. For lack of better words, they are his "Squad". This has some awesome Chip moments and it is like a beautiful therapy session that I think we all need after the last few chapters.**

 **-I love the line in the new 2017 Beauty and the Beast where the Beast tells Gaston "I am _not_ a beast!". It's beautiful by the fact that Adam _chooses_ not to be a beast. He still has to do beast-like things. He still has to deal with how he looks and what his body and mind does. But in the end, he is Adam. Regardless of anything. He is what he chooses to be. Not what he looks like. There is still some things he has to resolve in the next few chapters after some things happen that he can't control but this particular chapter sets up that idea. That Adam is what he wants to be. Not what is was made to be. And I think that is beautiful. **

**-I wanted a vibe of two men who have a very close relationship who are just having a normal conversation out in the snow. So if there are some things Chip says that are a little offensive...well...he's a grown man now and doesn't have much of a filter. Even when he is around his master. That's what I love about him.**

 **-So...I am far from home for the next few months. When I get reviews on this it is like having a connection back to who I am. It makes me feel so good about what I am doing and what I can accomplish. Especially in my writing. I appreciate your reviews SOOOO much and even more so now that I am halfway around the world from my life back home. So, please keep them coming. You are all amazing!**

 **-I'll post another couple chapters soon! Have a great week!**

* * *

 **King- Lauren Aquilina ( I have been listening to this song on a loop for months. Gosh, it just moves me!)**

 **You're alone, you're on your own, so what?**  
 **Have you gone blind?**  
 **Have you forgotten what you have and what is yours?**  
 **Glass half empty, glass half full**  
 **Well either way you won't be going thirsty**  
 **Count your blessings not your flaws**

 **You've got it all**  
 **You lost your mind in the sound**  
 **There's so much more**  
 **You can reclaim your crown**  
 **You're in control**  
 **Rid of the monsters inside your head**  
 **Put all your faults to bed**  
 **You can be king again**

* * *

The snow was thick and heavy when the hunting party set out two days later.

It had taken some doing but Adam was finally clothed in garments fit for a person of his rank. He had argued vehemently that the clothing they were offering had been made when Belle had come to the castle and he was unfit to wear them. When Mrs. Potts had refused to allow him any privacy in his nudity claiming she had seen him when he was a wee naked baby and she wouldn't be chased off so easily, he finally relented. The wound at his side vanished overnight and instead of trying to figure out the reason behind the sudden change in mortality, everyone silently agreed to let the matter stand unless further developments arose.

The men of the hunting party couldn't feel their toes after the first hour while Adam was a little stifled by his coat and cape.

Because the snow came so high, Adam was forced to make a path for the men as well as the horse and cart being drug along to carry the game back to the castle. He grumbled about it the entire way but it was oddly satisfying to pound his way through the snow and ice. When they had made a significant trek into the forest the men stood at a distance and Adam found a comfortable spot to sit back on his haunches.

No one moved as he breathed the air deeply into his lungs. Using all his senses he waited for the right scent to come to him. Wood, snow, dead leaves, his men, Chip, the horse. They all came to him in waves. Then, ever so subtly a certain smell reached him. As soon as he could sort it out of all the other smells, a vision of what he was tracking came into his brain. The clearing was large and out of the southwest corner stepped a buck. Massive and covered in winter fur it ripped some bark off the tree and foraged through the snow with its nose trying to find grass beneath.

Opening his eyes Adam paused and clenched every muscle in his body. He growled heavily into the still air and tried to pull back. The beast inside knew it would be a matter of minutes and he could reach this buck and tear its throat out with his teeth. He tried to focus on anything to keep his murderous tendencies in check. He wanted that buck. He wanted the warm blood in his mouth, the pulse of his veins and arteries bursting between his lips. He wanted to feel the slow and then stop of the animal's heart as the juicy flesh tore free and slithered down his throat.

Adam growled again and twitched to move; knowing he was going to lose this battle and the human half of him hated himself for letting Chip talk him into doing this. That's when he heard the whistle.

It was a jaunty tune that Adam had heard his men sing many times as they went about their work. As Chip whistled louder Adam tried to remember the words to the song and, just like that, he came out of it.

He relaxed his muscles and sunk deeper into the snow.

"Adam? Are you with me?"

With a sigh Adam nodded and didn't turn back to the men, fearing their intrepid looks. They had seen him growl, body taught to race off into the forest.

"Yes, there is a buck not a half league past that tree." And he pointed towards a large oak. All the men but Chip went off stealthily in that direction.

Chip crunched up to Adam's crouching figure and leaned up against the opposite tree smiling at his Master. "You did it."

"You can do this without me."

"I cannot. The game has mostly gone underground and the snow covers their tracks. I can't see or smell the way you do. We'll end up chasing our tails without a sufficient guide."

"Don't flatter me into thinking that is how you see me. I am nothing more than any other animal you have."

"That's insulting. I would not die for that nag over there or any other animal. I would for you."

"Grand gestures don't mean much when I was moments away from laying into that buck with my claws."

"But you didn't. You stopped yourself and heard my whistle."

"How long before that doesn't work anymore?"

"Adam...What are you so afraid of? So you would go and catch a buck and eat it? Is that really so bad?"

"Where do you think this will end, Chip? How long before it's not the deer I crave, but you? Or your mother? Babette? Cogsworth?"

When Chip couldn't seem to find any words to that notion, Adam continued. "One day, very soon, I'm going to close my eyes and when I open them again, I won't be here anymore. We are fooling ourselves into thinking I am anything but a monster."

"You never wanted to eat us before."

"You were never human before."

Chip considered this for a moment and then came a little closer and was able to look Adam straight in the eye though he was standing and his Master was not.

"How do you know?"

"What do you mean?"

"How do you know you will just slip into your beastly half and never resurface again?"

"It was part of the spell. Just as you all became more objects then human, I did the same as the Beast. I had ten years to break my curse or I would be doomed to _remain_ a beast. The spell was only designed for ten years. That has long since passed."

"If that were entirely true then you would not have been able to be the man Belle saw you were."

This time Adam was without words. "I still had time then."

"Not much time. You were halfway there by the time she reached us. Being averse to killing wildlife is a little silly as you've already done it. Plenty of times."

"You knew?"

"Everyone knew. We didn't eat for ten years. Rather pointless when you didn't exactly have teeth or a mouth to chew. But _you_ did. It was always a rather exciting event when you would come back."

"You were just a child. Surely your mother would not have allowed you to know such things."

Chip gave Adam a pointed look. "What my mother _allowed_ and what I did were often two separate things."

Adam lifted an eyebrow and rolled his eyes dramatically. "Well, isn't that truth personified?"

Chip let out a lyrical laugh that echoed in the stillness of the forest. "You know it's all the same, don't you? Whether you hunt with a bow or with your claws it's all the same."

"It's too strong, Chip. The thrill... of the hunt; the call for blood. I'll lose what control I have left."

"Have you ever thought…if you stopped pulling on the reigns so hard you might be a little happier?"

"I beg your pardon."

"Stop bringing yourself to heel so much."

"So I AM nothing more than a hound?"

Chip slapped his thigh in frustration. "That is not what I am saying! You are a beast, non?"

"I hadn't noticed but now that you mention it, oui." Adam's voice dripped with sarcasm and for a moment he almost sounded like his human self.

Chip took a step to the right and then to the left as if his thought process required movement. He then looked at Adam as if he wasn't just Chip, his former kitchen boy, but something so much more.

"We had a litter of pups this summer. The bitch was a pretty little pointer that could sniff out a rabbit under water. Several men bought the pups right up before they were weened. There was one. Little brown thing. Huntsman who bought it had a very forceful way with the animals but I allowed it. I wish I hadn't."

Adam sighed, seeing where this was going. "He beat it."

"Mercilessly and I am sure you know what happened next. It attacked everything it came across. Tried to kill one of the foals. I had to break its neck. The other pups; sweet as baby rabbits. It wasn't in the blood or its nature. Pain made that creature angry and anger made it unweildy."

"I am unweildy…."

"Even a man, like any other man, when brought low for too long will break and fight back."

"But I am not a man."

Again Chip gave Adam a look of utter frustration. "But you are!"

Adam rose up a little on his haunches which made the horse spook and shy away with a whinny. "No, Chip! I'm not! That is my big secret! That is the terrible truth of the matter. The Enchantress wasn't lying." Adam sighed as if a great burden was sinking into him like stones on a scale. "Every day…every year that went by took a little bit more of me. I could pretend…sometimes that I was normal because I looked normal. I don't look normal anymore, Chip. There's so little left of me. I may have been born a man…but I'm not anymore."

Unable to stop the emotion, Adam blundered on with a voice that was equal parts anger, resentment, fear, and pain. "And I HATE IT! I hate that I cannot separate myself from him! I hate that I cannot kill him in some way and leave myself alive. I hate that deep down, no matter how far I distanced myself from this _thing_ that I am, it was always there! It waited to catch me off guard to show that I can never fully be a human again. I am an animal that is just smart enough to know to be disgusted by what I am."

Chip wished that he could alleviate some of this suffering in his Master. But it is a horrible truth that suffering must be passed through for it to pass on. They stood in the peaceful silence with a gentle breeze cutting through their clothing and making the cold that much more present.

"But you cannot escape either of these things that you are. Neither the man nor the beast."

"I live at war with my own body. Someday soon it will tear me apart. Every once in a while, sometimes, when I was….holding Elizabeth….or carrying my daughters to bed…I was wholly a man, just like any other man. But now….even that is gone."

For a moment Chip regarded Adam with so much pain on his face that one would think it was the younger man bearing his soul for the entire forest. With a groan he sat down in the snow and leaned hard against the tree and looked at his Master with a kind gaze.

"Not forever, sire. I promise you that. And, I may not be Elizabeth but… You could always hold me."

Chip gave Adam a grin that revealed the gap in the front of his teeth and held out his arms with a slight shrug. The glare that Adam gave Chip was spine tingling.

"Touch me and I'll claw your eyes out on purpose."

"Well… if it makes you feel better."

"It will, trust me."

"I know you don't believe me but… we, my mother and Cogsworth and Lumiere and me, we don't care. We don't care that you are just as much man as you are animal. To us….You are just Adam."

"You wouldn't say that if you looked like I do. If you had a body you couldn't control; that did things without your permission."

"Oh, I dunno. I think I would look right dashing with a pair of horns, don't you think?"

Chip gave Adam another winning smile and Adam snorted as one would expect a bull to do before a fight.

"We'd find you with one stuck into a wall after you tried to ram it with your head."

Chip's eyes flashed in amusement. "Oh, _please_ tell me that happened to you at least once."

"I take it back. You'd enjoy this far too much. I suppose the Enchantress knew what she was doing when she made you a teacup."

Chip pulled a face that almost made Adam laugh out loud if he hadn't caught it before it escaped his mouth. He wasn't ready to let go of his melancoly.

"Oh dear Lord, don't remind me. If _I_ was prince I would ban all tea sets from the kingdom. We would all drink ale from clay bowls."

"You would make a terrible prince, then." Adam said ruefully with just enough of a twinkle in his eye to make it amusing.

Chip grabbed his chest and looked sufficently hurt. "When _I'm_ prince I'll remember you said that!"

Adam snorted again and then turned and looked over Chip's shoulder, wishing he couldn't hear the buck being shot and killed in the distant forest.

"Noted." He remarked. "With the way things are going that notion might not be such an absurd pausibility. Perhaps you could keep me as your royal pet."

The laughter left his eyes and he looked down at his paws in disgust. The sudden change in mood was disconcerting and it momentarily silenced Chip's whimsy.

Much quieter, but still with Chip's signiture charm. "You'd make a terrible pet."

Adam looked at him through hooded eyelids. "Why is that?"

There was a quiet pause before Chip responded. "You're too human. There's more man in you then any other I've ever known."

Adam felt his throat close up and cut off any retorts he could have made. A stunned silence sat between them until Adam finally uttered what he needed to say to somehow get through this.

"I don't….don't know how to stop it. I don't know how to keep it under control. I can't live with what you will see when that happens."

Chip took in a deep breath of air and considered his master for a moment.

"As to that, I believe there is a temporary solution. If only to delay what you believe will be your inevitable downward spiral."

"I'm listening."

"With those ears, I would hope so." Chip gave Adam a toothy grin. "You say that underneath you've always felt the beast side of you? After all this time?

Adam gave a nod. "Sometimes I could almost feel my skin itch with the need to run away, somewhere in the woods and howl. I almost told Elizabeth a thousand times when she would ask me why I didn't like certain smells or sounds. Sensations were always so intense I would have to pull away from her..." Chip would have seen the blush if Adam wasn't covered in dark fur.

Giving a soft chuckle, Chip continued. "So for all these years, there has been something just lurking beneath the surface trying to break free?"

"Like a nightmare I can never wake up from."

"And you kept it under lock and key and beat it mercilessly into submission."

"Do not make me feel sorry for hating this side of myself! Anyone with a lick of sanity would feel this way about me! They _do_ feel this way about me! Look at me!"

"I am, Adam. And you are going to look me in the eye and tell me that it had nothing to do with that beautiful woman you married? Nothing to do with the fear that she would wake up and realize that she was lying next to someone who was not quite human? What she would do then?"

Adam shook his head but eventually gave a little shrug. "Perhaps….. But it wasn't just her. It was everyone. I had to keep it under control. No one would have understood."

"Belle understood. In fact, she loved you for it."

With a sigh, Adam nodded. "Belle was the exception to the rule."

"And now it's just us. You don't have to hide it anymore. You don't have to hold back."

"Then….the Enchantress wins….and all I'll ever be is a beast."

"You are fighting a losing battle, my friend. One day your mind will snap and just waiting under the surface will be a creature with teeth and claws and a vendetta. And because you could not embrace, even just a little bit, what you are it will not want to give you your control back."

"This is precisely why-"

"You must give it a chance to be free!"

"Just give up? That is your solution?!"

"A little, yes!"

"How will that solve anything?"

"You think you are the only creature on this planet that doesn't need breathing room! That doesn't need a chance to be wild and run and break free! My God, and we thought Cogsworth was the tightly wound machine!"

"Then what is the difference between being human and being animal?"

"I couldn't tell you, Your Highness. But I will say this; I didn't join the royal hunting party because I wanted to spend every waking hour with a bunch of unwashed braggards. I joined because it made me free! I could run and breathe without the entire kitchen and every staff member talking to me like a child."

"It's not the same!"

"It is! That animal inside you, it's inside all of us. Lumiere, Cogsworth, even my mother. But that isn't the only thing you are. I refuse to believe any more of your tripe! You are my prince!"

For a moment Chip had to stop and swallow as if something was caught in his throat. "You are the only kind of father I've ever known. You're my friend and my brother. You're my master and my family. And if you need to howl at the moon, then howl! Just do it! Let it out. If you need to run and kill a few rabbits, be my guest! If you need to spend a few days in the forest pissing on trees and digging holes in the snow then I'll join you if it will make you feel normal again."

"What a sight that would be…" Adam deadpanned, uncomfortable with the raw emotion.

"Don't scratch up the furniture or mount the dogs-"

"You're revolting." Adam glowered at Chip and the younger man let out a laugh.

"So you have told me. Just….let it go. Deep down….you're not a beast. And I think you know that. But right now, you have to let yourself be free or we will lose you." There was another long pause as if he could not quite bring himself to say what he must. "I cannot lose you, my Prince."

"Sentimental nonsense." Adam whispered with emotion.

"But you will try it?"

"There is wisdom in what you say..."

"But?"

"None of this will end well. How can it?"

If Chip was going to respond he did not get a chance. The six men who had gone after the buck finally returned and did not come empty handed. On their wagon was loaded not only the buck but six other deer as well.

One older man laughed and slapped Chip on the shoulder. "It was too easy; they almost fell down dead before we sent our arrows flying. It was beautiful."

Again the smell of blood wafted over to Adam and he felt his mouth fill with saliva. With a huff he followed behind all the other men on all fours pondering his circumstance.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

 **-Yay yay yay! I know it's not Sunday but I wanted to rewrite this chapter before I submitted it. Nothing but perfection for my readers!**

 **-You guys gave such AWESOME reviews this week I decided to submit TWO chapters. They pretty much go hand in hand and I thought they were a nice compliment. It is both sides of what Adam is going through and I think they are both beautiful in their own ways.**

 **-We are exactly halfway through the story now and it is going to take a sharp turn. This particular arch is almost over and it has set things up for an awesome second half. I cannot wait for you to read it.**

 **-Not much else to say except I hope you enjoy these next two sooooo much and would love all your insight and thoughts on all things Beauty and the Beast and my little fic!**

 **-Have a great week and I will post again by the end of it!**

* * *

 **"Island" Sara Bareilles**

 **You always dirty up the windows**  
 **If you keep 'em at bay that way no one's gonna surprise you by getting too close**  
 **Anybody but me though**  
 **You've made exceptions to your rules**  
 **And now we're staring down truth neither one of us wants to know**

 **It's like I'm standing on the edge with just a telephone wire**  
 **Trying to get to you first to say the world's on fire**  
 **Holding my breath until I know you're alright**  
 **Because the water will only rise**  
 **When will you realize**  
 **You must become an island**  
 **You must become an island**  
 **You must become an island**  
 **And see for yourself the horizon is all we have**

* * *

A few days later, and after much brooding and thought, Adam gave Chip's suggestion a try. Being holed up in the frosty castle was unbearable and he had not been able to bring himself to go out with the hunting party again. They had brought in what game they could but it was still getting colder outside and it wouldn't be letting up any time soon.

He had slowly made his way out into the woods, far beyond the line of sight of anyone back at the castle. Pulling his coat off he draped it over a tree branch and continued to make his way along the snow covered pathways leading deep within the forest.

It was a dreary day and the sky foretold of more snow soon to come. Adam tried to clear his mind. It swirled with sights and smells and sensations he had long since curbed with ferocious intent. He flexed all four paws and let his tail swish through the snow.

Inside him he felt the Beast. The weight of the animal was raw and painful and he genuinely feared what his body was capable of. Taking a deep breath in hopes he would still be him when this was all over he mentally took a step back and allowed the animal in him to come to the forefront of his mind.

And that was all he remembered for a long time.

It was like going to sleep. Some part of him just let go and he felt his whole mind relax and something else take over. He wondered if it had always been like this. Even when he was human, perhaps he might have just turned it all off and allowed whatever made him Adam to simply float away. His thoughts drifted to a happier place where he was whole and a man again. Where he was with his family and they were happy and together.

Any number of hours or days could have passed and he would not have minded one bit. He was lost in a sea of his own thoughts, without a body to worry about; he was free.

And then... it all came back to him in a force of exploding pain. He jerked awake and would have made to scamper away had his muscles responded. They were on fire, having clearly overused them to their breaking point. His clothing was torn and ragged.

But worse, oh so much worse, was the sight that met him when he could finally force his eyes open. The blood, everywhere within his line of vision. Blood covered the snow and painted it red and black. From his face to his feet he was soaked in it. Body parts littered the clearing where he lay. Matted fur that was not his own pulled out in tuffs from his claws. From the smell of it, Adam deduced it was wolf. Three to be exact. He could still taste the animal's last sacrifice stuck between his fangs. He felt his stomach muscles contort with nausea and would have made to vomit if the animal inside him would have allowed it. He could only lay in horror as the reality of his situation sunk deep into the marrow of his bones. He was truly a monster now.

For a long while he could only lay in the blood darkened snow. He pulled his paws to his face and moaned. "Oh God! What happened...?"

He looked to what was left of the wolves and tried to blink away what he was seeing. "I am sorry! I did not mean to be cruel."

But the truth was he did. He hated those wolves. They were a product of the spell and had lingered in his life for decades. Somehow he knew that this was a settled score for his beastly side. And because of that satisfying fact he hated himself.

With great effort he finally lifted his body from the snow. His limbs felt weak and sore and he was not able to walk as a man without stumbling so he finally consigned himself to all fours. Slowly he made his way back the castle.

He tried to think but the thoughts just wouldn't come. The only rational inclination he could muster was that he needed to get inside. He needed to somehow step away from the macabre madness of the crimson soaked clearing and his murdered victims.

When the footmen saw his lonely figure they immediately called for the heads of house who were waiting in the front entryway when Adam stepped inside. It was blazingly warm and he felt instantly sick and suffocated. Without resistance he sat down on his haunches and allowed his staff to get a good look at him. There were a few gasps and one footman took a step back but to their credit Mrs. Potts, Cogsworth, and Luis didn't seem to be all that affected by his appearance.

"Hello." He whispered, his voice sounding horse.

"Good Evening, your Highness." Cogworth responded promptly.

"How long was I gone?"

"Since yesterday."

Adam finally looked up at Cogsworth. "I lost a whole day?"

"We were beginning to worry about you." Mrs. Potts's voice was calm and demur in the face of such a sight.

"What happened?" Cogsworth, however, seemed to be keeping a wide birth around where Adam stood.

"I killed them." Adam whispered again, barely able to choke on the taste of blood that still lingered in his mouth.

"Killed who?"

"Wolves. I apparently kill and eat wolves now….." There was a touch of irony in his voice but it was so saturated with disgust that it stole the charm right away from his words.

"Are you alright?" Mrs. Potts asked that belayed no concern at all for Adam's appearance.

He squinted a little as if trying to determine the answer. "I'm not sure…."

"Did they attack you?" Chip asked standing with his elbow leaning against the wall.

Adam huffed just a little bit and then turned his face away in shame. "Does it matter? I don't even remember it. I was just….gone….."

"Blimey," Chip muttered rubbing his neck. "But you know…..that's actually really good for us. The pack has been hunting down every scrap of meat we've come across. This might actually give us a window to go out and find something worth hunting."

Adam gave Chip a glare that was made much worse by the blood still covering most of his face.

"So glad I was of some assistance." Suddenly he looked away from them as if reliving the moment in the forest again. "You were wrong. If I am capable of losing myself to the point of killing innocent wolves—"

"Phth!" Chip said raising a hand. "There is nothing innocent about those mangy curs! If you don't remember what happened then at least don't embellish the truth of what is most probable. In reality, you've probably saved mine and several other lives that will have to go back into that forest with some very humbled wolves on my trail."

"It's alright, dear." Mrs. Potts murmured soothingly. "You have to give it time. This was the first time. It will get easier."

Something in Adam finally snapped. The fog in his brain cleared and his eyes brightened to the color of Lapis Lazuli. He looked from Cogsworth to Chip and on to Mrs. Potts and Luis.

"No…..No! That is not how it should be!" He clenched his jaw and looked down away from the condescending looks of pity. "If this is your reaction then where does it stop!? Where do you finally decide to end me?! How low do I have to sink before it is too much!?"

He straightened himself up to stand with as much dignity as his tired animal body would allow.

"If I can lose myself in the animal and eat wolves then I am capable of everything and anything….How can you stand there and say this is alright?"

Cogsworth shook his head. "We will stand by you, my prince. No matter what."

Adam shuttered his eyes and something inside himself shuttered with him. "I won't allow it. I won't allow you to do this to yourselves. I won't allow you to let me become this! If I am to be drug down to hell you are NOT coming with ME!"

Without being able to stop them his hackles rose on his neck and he shivered at the sensation.

"This ends now." He lowered himself back onto all fours and shook his head again as if steeling himself for the decision he was making.

"Open the tower. Leave a blanket. Tell Monte that I require a bath and then….leave me be!"

He started to make his way to the staircase when Chip reached out a hand to brush across his master's shoulder.

"Adam…" he murmured as if to try one more time to convince him to not do what he was doing.

Without any warning Adam turned and gave a small snap with his massive fangs. It was so close to Chip's hand that the younger man actually felt the scratch that could have opened his skin like tissue paper. A half roar followed the teeth and though it wasn't nearly at its full strength it was still terrifying for the whole room. All the Heads of House took a startled step back and Chip had the wherewithal to hold his tongue.

Adam took all his pain and frustration and channeled in to the one notion that he knew was the right one in his heart. That he had to do something to end this.

"This is my castle and I am the master here! And I _command_ you…. To leave me be!"


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

 **-As promised, here is the second chapter! I am in mad love with it and feel like it is the compliment to chapter 24 with Adam's conversation with Chip.**

 **\- So just read and enjoy this cute little addition. It's honestly one of my favorites. And as always I love all of your reviews and insights like they were my own children. Never stop! You are all the best!**

* * *

 **"Always On Your Side" Sheryl Crow (Again, I don't know why these lyrics have these stupid spacing but...it's a great song anyways)**

 **Well everything was easy then,**

 **So sweet and innocent**

 **But your demons and your angels reappeared**

 **Leavin' all the traces of the man you thought you'd be**

 **Leavin' me with no place left to go from here**

 **Leavin' me so many questions all these years**

 **But is there someplace far away,**

 **Someplace where all is clear**

 **Easy to start over with the ones you hold so dear**

 **Or are you left to wonder, all alone, eternally**

 **This isn't how it's really meant to be**

 **No it isn't how it's really meant to be**

* * *

The combing of flesh and fur out of the muck that covered Adam's body was no small feat. Adam's valet feared for his life with every brush stroke and was on the verge of completely losing all his patience every time a snarl was produced with tuffs of fur coming out at every angle.

"Have I mentioned yet that I am a wild and dangerous animal?"

"A good number of times, Sire. Tell me, is this an eyeball you were saving for later or was it just decorative?"

The roar that resounded was impressive at worst, terrifying at best.

Lumiere heard it down the hall and paused for the hundredth time, wondering if he had lost his mind. If it hadn't been for the blasted snow he would have been long gone from this castle. Instead he was standing outside the West Wing, questioning his entire lifetime of choices. With a deep breath he stepped into the room just in time to see Adam grip a large wooden comb in his two paws and completely break it in half in front of Monte's face.

"Well!" Monte gave a huff as if he wanted to throw the pieces back into Adam's snarling mouth.

Clearing his throat, Lumiere announced his presence. "Zat is quite enough, Monte. I will take it from 'ere."

And since a Butler far outranked a Valet, Monte gave a small bow and fled the room with the remains of his broken comb.

Adam's features were hard to read but no one could mistake his surprise at finding Lumiere standing at his door. He turned himself away as if to hide the fact that he was naked and still quite covered in blood.

Nothing happened for a long while and then when it seemed like the awkward silence would stretch on forever Adam finally spoke. "Apparently, you and I have a different definition for what resigning means."

"Tis, 'ard to do when you are being 'eld prisoner by ze weazer."

"That still doesn't explain why you dismissed my idiot valet."

"'E wouldn't be much use if you chewed 'is fingers off."

"I can care for myself. This work is beneath you."

"You forget I was a valet long before I was a butler. For your Fazer to be exact."

And without another word, Lumiere retrieved another comb from the dressing table and began the long process of picking bits of wolf out of Adam's fur.

He was no gentler, but Adam was much less inclined to give Lumiere a chance to stalk off for a second time.

When the Butler was satisfied he ordered Adam into the steaming water. Rolling up his sleeves and tying an apron around his waist he knelt down on the ground and started to lather brushes and his hands for what would prove to be a very soapy endeavor.

As he was being scrubbed within an inch of his life, Adam could only watch the care that was being taken to bathe him. "Why are you doing this?"

"A servant must serve. I know nozing else."

Adam hated that answer. "You are much more than a servant...to me..."

"Is zat why you asked me to kill you? I am also your assassin?"

"You're my friend..." A lump was forming in his throat he did not care to reveal and he looked away from the red soaked man kneeling at his bathtub.

The scrubbing stopped and Lumiere looked at him incredulously. "Is zat why you did it? Because we are such friends you would 'ave me bare zat burden?"

Adam knew if he didn't speak soon he would lose his chance. "I did it because...I'm scared..." His voice wavered "God, I'm so scared..."

The silence stretched on forever. "Moi aussi, Mon beasty."

"I am...so sorry..."

The Frenchman sighed deeply. "You should be."

"I am...please, don't leave me..."

There didn't seem to be much hesitation as Lumiere once again resumed his scrubbing. "Where would I go?"

And nothing else was said after that.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

 **Hello, My darlings! I wanted to get this chapter out before I was away from my computer for the weekend and you had some good reading for the weekend!**

 **-This is another good Chip and Adam chapter. It is also the end of that particular "Adam dealing with his beast side" story arch. We are going into some CRAZY stuff in the next chapters and I am chuffed to bits for you to read it!**

 **-I had this idea about the tower when I was writing. I always thought it was interesting that Adam put Maurice in the tower in the original movie. He could have just as easily thrown him out into the snow or taken him anywhere. But he took him to the tower. There will be more chapters explaining Adam's relationship with the tower and it's meaning in his life but I thought that perhaps, due to some kind of experiences he had as a boy, that perhaps the tower was where you go when the worst things happen. When you need to punished. I thought it was an interesting twist that he felt like that was where he needed to be contained. That was where he belonged after what he had done. Just food for thought.**

 **-For those who have written reviews about Elizabeth and his girls, never fear. It may be a while as we have some other stuff to deal with at the moment but they are not forgotten. Remember they are snowed out. Elizabeth is in England and Isabelle and Rosamund are in Paris with the King, their uncle. So they're good. Everything will come full circle. We're really only half-way through my story. Lots to enjoy, I promise!**

 **-So love this chapter as much as I do. It's similar to others but this one is more about the closure and how we are going to move on from where we came from. And review! I love all the reviews!**

* * *

 **Better- Regina Spektor**

 **You're getting sadder, getting sadder, getting sadder, getting sadder**

 **And I don't understand, and I don't understand**

 **But if I kiss you where it's sore**

 **If I kiss you were it's sore**

 **Will you feel better, better, better**

 **Will you feel anything at all**

 **Will you feel better, better, better**

 **Will you feel anything at all**

* * *

Adam's skin was raw when he was finally released from his less then pleasant bath.

He promptly thanked Lumiere and without preamble made his way to the towers. He hoped it wasn't too cold up there although he would probably be able to stay warm by curling up on the blanket Cogsworth said he would leave for him.

To his chagrin he found Cogsworth, Chip, Mrs. Potts, and Babette were still up there. In fact, they seemed to have moved into the space outside the cell door with blankets, pillows and a few cushioned chairs. It was freezing and someone had had the ludicrous idea to move a pot bellied stove near the window. It was lit and blazing warm heat into the otherwise numbingly cold rooms.

Adam glowered at the crew as they continued to assemble enough furniture for a very long sit-in. "I don't need a fire or any of this. And I should remind you that I will be locked inside the cell thus rendering all this nonsense useless."

"Oh, zis is not for you, master! It is for us!" Babette's chipper voice was out of place in the dark tower.

"Have you all cracked?"

Chip sighed long-sufferingly, put down the book he had been reading on a convenient end table, got to his feet and with a pointed look opened the cell door to the tower room. "Enough of your grousing and get in your cell before you gobble us all up, you great... dangerous... monster!"

All of this was said with such a layer of sarcasm that it rendered Adam speechless. If there had been any biting retorts left he would have used it. But since there wasn't, he simply walked into the cell and listened as Chip turned the lock. He found himself facing a small window and a soft feather comforter waiting in the corner. It wasn't until he saw the blanket that he realized how exhausted he really was. Without much resistance to the notion, he curled onto the blanket, turning exactly five and a half times, and was almost asleep the instant he laid his head down.

* * *

It was a string of chuckles and quieted voices that brought Adam out of his slumber hours, or perhaps days, later. He looked around confused in the darkness of the cell and wondered why so many voices were in his room. After several moments he remembered and tried to pick out who it was who had woken him. Babette and Mrs. Potts were having a lively conservation in whispers and seemed to think that Adam wouldn't be disturbed by this. They forgot exactly how keen his hearing actually was. He groaned a little from sleeping curled up the way he had and stretched his back by pushing his front paws forward and pulling his head down all the way to the floor.

"Shhh I zink 'e is awake." came the muffled statement from Babette. A chair scraped and Mrs. Potts' sweet face appeared in the window of his cell door just as Adam finished stretching out.

"Good Evening, dear. Are you still with us?"

Adam nodded his shaggy head and sat back down on his haunches. "What day is it?"

Mrs. Potts chuckled a little. "It's Sunday, dearest."

Adam looked away out his uncovered window. A week. His family had been away from him for an entire week. How was he ever to get through the hundreds more without them?

To Mrs. Potts, her Prince looked so forlorn, so very lost that she would have given anything to hold him in her arms they way she had done when he was a babe. But they were far past that and so the best thing she could offer was the one thing she knew he could really use.

"Are you hungry? We had some things brought up to you in case you decided to return to the living tonight."

Adam seemed to consider this. He clearly wanted to refuse but his stomach finally won over his pride and he sighed. "Very well."

In no time, he was presented with several hot plates of food on trays that were brought directly into his cell. He allowed the footmen to bring it in and then ordered them out as quickly as they could scamper and re-lock the door.

He waited for a moment before sitting down to eat. What if the animal inside him wanted something a little...fresher? What if he could no longer stomach human food now that he had allowed himself to let go as he had? What if from this point on he would have to hunt, or more accurately, have uncooked meat brought to him like some wild dog?

With worry, he removed the tray covers of his meal and looked down at it. Tender cuts of meat, cooked rare, vegetables and bread. It all smelled warm and rich and divine. Adam looked up to see if any of his people were watching him through the bars but they had returned to their conversation. Without any more hesitation, he bent down and started to eat. He knew it was grotesque to eat like an animal and he tried to at least be delicate about it. But if no one else was watching and he was going to spend the rest of his natural life locked up in the tower, then he wasn't going to bother spooning tiny portions of food between his clawed paws into his mouth.

The food tasted just as it always did. Exquisite and delicious. He carefully drank the wine from a glass but found it difficult to pour into his mouth with the way his teeth were shaped. Eventually he gave up and poured a copious amount into a bowl and lapped it up gently.

To his surprise he felt almost himself, despite the uncouth way he was consuming his food. For all intents and purposes, the animal inside him had retreated a little and he felt a calm settle in that had not been there days before. It was unnerving in some ways. What was to happen next?

* * *

Two days from the time he first entered his cell passed. The Heads of House took long turns sitting up in the tower with him. He only left once a day to take care of matters that could not possibly be taken care of anywhere else but outside and then promptly returned to his dingy corner and comfortable blanket.

No one bothered him much except for meals. At first a few offerings were made for his comforts but he immediately refused them and so the offers stopped coming. As the evening was getting on upon the end of his second day Adam was ready to rip his hair out. He paced restlessly the length of his cell so many times he felt the pads of his feet turn into blisters. He snorted and snarled and ripped his blanket up a bit when he couldn't seem to find a comfortable position to sleep the day and evenings away as he had planned. He had counted the stones on his cell and then started to name them just to keep his mind occupied. Sometime between sunset and twilight Cogsworth left to go to bed and was replaced by Chip. Adam had not yet felt it necessary to give his Master of the Hunt any reprieve from his anger and they did not say a word to one another. Adam continued to pace and Chip settled down with a book and a bottle of Port.

However, the scraping of nails on stone and the huffing that Adam was making proved to make reading an impossibility.

"You'll wear the stones down if you keep doing that." Chip said, without rising from his chair.

"Hang the stones! I am going mad in here, if you cared to notice."

"Well," Chip continued, flipping his book shut "Can you do so quietly? You could very possibly drive the rest of us mad while you are at it."

A nasty snarl erupted from the other side of the cell and Chip watched from a safe distance as a deadly paw swiped through the bars.

"Leave me! Everything I told you is happening just as I said it would and the last thing I need is your smart mouth!"

"Everything?" Chip said finally getting to his feet and cautiously approaching the door of the cell.

"I am crawling out of my skin. A few more hours and I will be nothing but beast, mark my words."

"No you won't."

"You know nothing of what I am!"

"I know that you are not, as you put it, _'becoming nothing but beast'_."

"Do you think I am wearing out these stones for my own personal pleasure?"

"I know it is not because you are becoming all beast."

"Then how would you explain it?"

"You, Adam, my Prince and Sovereign, are bored."

"What?"

"You heard me. You have been trapped in that cell for the better part of three days and you are going bored out of your numb skull."

"I can't stop pacing! I can't think about anything but running! I want out!"

"To do what?"

Adam paused for a moment. What did he want to do if he was out? The obvious answer, he had told himself, was to rip every living creature to shreds. Except...this didn't seem to be the right answer. In fact, the animal in him didn't seem to find that very appealing in the slightest.

"I just want out."

"So do I. So does everyone that has been waiting for you to get bored enough to give this up. Do you think your madness is reserved for just you? We all want out!"

"Then leave! I never asked any of you to stay. In fact, I ordered you all to leave and you disobeyed me! In my father's time you would have been dismissed immediately for such disrespect!"

"Well, thank the angels that you are not your father because before this night is through I plan on behaving a little more disrespectfully."

"How so?"

"By telling you exactly how I know you are not becoming all beast as you constantly try to convince us."

"Pray, do continue..." Adam drawled sarcastically.

"It is when you sleep that I know."

"When I sleep?"

"Indeed, my Prince. You don't sleep as you normally did. Last week you had the hunt in your feet and a whine in your throat. You slept as if you would pounce any moment and attack whatever animal you were chasing in your dreams."

"And now? Now, that I have done just as you say, only awake?"

"You sleep like Adam. Peacefully, sprawled across your dingy blanket, snoring a bit, as if lost to the world at large."

"How would you know what I look like when I sleep?!"

Chip gave Adam such a look of meaning it was almost humorous. "You are the prince! Everyone here has seen you sleep. I sometimes think to myself, 'What would it be like to know everyone knows the exact moment when I sleep, piss, and bed a woman?' I don't know how it doesn't drive you mad."

Adam huffed a little at the notion. "It isn't as bad as all that."

"Not to mention, you've gone on the hunt plenty of times. One does not simply sleep when the prince himself is with you. So I watch you sometimes. Make sure you are safe."

The concept was so intimate and strange that all Adam could do was stare at Chip as if they had never seen each other before.

"Do I really snore?" he finally choked out.

"Indeed, I'm surprised none of your women ever told you as much. But then, I suppose that is one of the blessings of being you. No one lying in your bed would dare say anything against His Highness."

"No, they simply leave my bed for another man's. A footman no less."

"That had nothing to do with your unpleasant snoring and you know it."

"Then how am I to know the difference between boredom and becoming what I...am?"

Chip shrugged as if he was tired of discussing it. "I suppose you have two choices. You can sit in this cell and wonder or you can live a real life until it happens."

"Until I kill someone? And then what?"

There was a pause as Chip shifted his stance so that he was no longer in plain sight of Adam's view. "I went to the clearing. Pretty gruesome."

"Try waking up to it. Try knowing it was you."

"It didn't look like more than one or two, though."

"Three, it was exactly three."

"Hmm…well, if you can only boast three dead wolves you might as well pipe down. I've killed about a dozen in just the time I've been Master of the Hunt. They chase the game cart and attack the horses. Good pistol to the head usually does the trick. Seems silly to fuss about three that may have just as easily attacked you first for all you know."

"That's just it, isn't it? I don't know."

"Did you kill anything else? Did you come near the castle?"

There was a long pause as Adam thought on what he could remember from the sights and smells of his time out in the woods. "I don't think so."

"You're under this impression that you will be some type of killing machine if you lose yourself in this?"

"Yes, based on my previous experience that was my conclusion."

"But, that doesn't seem to be the case."

"How can I take the chance that I am wrong?"

Chip leaned against the door at an angle and looked back at his Master's beastly face on the other side. "I heard what you asked Lumiere to do."

"He told you?"

"No, he told my mother and I listened at the door."

"You still do that? Your mother would have fits if she knew. Are you ever going to grow out of that?"

"If I haven't yet, then probably not."

"No one was supposed to know."

"You should have known Lumiere couldn't do it. The man could seduce a nunnery and organize a raid on a Chinese emperor but if you asked him to kill the person he considers a son, you are more foolish than I thought."

"What was I supposed to do? Is there anyone in this castle that doesn't consider me their son or brother or father? Was I to find a compassionate mercenary oblivious to my station and status?"

Finally turning back and looking deeply into Adam's eyes. "If...IF the time comes and we cannot bring you back, if you are completely lost to us and there is no trace of who you are left inside you...then I will do it."

There was nothing spoken for an interminable amount of time.

"You would do that for me?"

"I would, My Prince. If there was no other option. I would not force you to die alone for anything in the world. Even if that meant you had to die at my hands. And besides, I am a much better shot then Lumiere."

For the first time since he had changed, Adam smiled.

"In return, will you do something for me?" Chip continued.

"Yes, anything."

"Will you try? Please, try to stay with us and be our Master again?"

"I will try."


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

 **Alright Everyone! I am finally getting this chapter out after a pretty crappy week. So be gentle on me.**

 **-WriteYourDreamsTheyWillCome: I honestly laughed out loud at your review. Seriously, I was sitting in a cafe in Bangkok and I saw that I had one so I read it and laughed because I realize how soap opera "Days of our Lives" it all sounds. Apparently my writing is very transparent. But I assure you it will end up being really awesome.**

 **-SC (Guest): Adam is stubborn. He's a pain in the butt. That's why we love him.**

 **-I don't have a lot to say about this chapter. It's like the door being opened on a whole new story. Buckle up for this roller coaster, Dolls!**

 **-Lumiere and Cogsworth don't get near enough to do in this chapter but I promise they will have several more shining moments.**

 **-Just as a FYI reminder: Cosworth=Major Domo, Lumiere=Head Butler, Mrs. Potts=Head Housekeeper, Babette/Plumette=Head Housemaid, Chip=Master of the Hunt, Luis=Captain of the Guard.**

 **And as always, I adore all of your reviews and honestly check my phone every few hours to see if I have anymore. Never stop. EVER!**

 **Have a great weekend, everybody!**

* * *

 **The Scientist- Coldplay**

 **Tell me you love me**  
 **Come back and haunt me**  
 **Oh, and I rush to the start**

 **Running in circles**  
 **Chasing our tails**  
 **Coming back as we are**

 **Nobody said it was easy**  
 **It's such a shame for us to part**  
 **Nobody said it was easy**  
 **No one ever said it would be this hard**

 **Oh, take me back to the start**

* * *

It was late in the evening. The moon was hidden behind the clouds and the temperature had plummeted. Adam sat in his cell, unable to sleep. Chip had long since slipped into a quiet slumber and was curled up comfortably next to the pot bellied stove. Adam watched him sleep and wondered if he would have been able to tell the difference between normal Chip sleeping and Chip going mad.

He thought long and hard about what he could do to prove to Chip he was trying. He could participate in the hunts again. He could...he could try to not reign the beast in so much that he blacked out the next time he let loose. Other then those things he couldn't fathom what it was his household wished of him.

The whipping wind howled outside and reminded him of the stories told of ghosts in the woods. Haunts of lost souls trying to find their way to some unknown peace.

Adam cocked his ear to the side when a whistling scream found its way to his ears. Surely the wind was blowing very fast for it to sound like that.

It only took Adam a few extra moments to realize that it wasn't in fact the wind that was making that sound. Rising on two legs he rushed to his open window and looked down at the bridge below. The darkness was vast and had he not the eyesight of an owl on the hunt he would not have been able to see the two black shapes standing outside the castle gates shouting for anyone to hear. He could not catch even a syllable of what they were saying but from the sounds of it there was a considerable amount of distress.

Adam turned and rushed back to his cell door. "Chip!"

The younger man didn't stir. "Chip! You great lard bucket! Wake up!"

Chip merely turned on his side and stayed asleep. Adam growled impressively but either Chip had long since become used to Adam's growls or he was ignoring his Master completely.

Adam picked up a smallish stone that had come dislodged from his cell wall. Reaching his paw through the cell bars he aimed and hit his mark with accuracy.

Chip felt the stone smash into his temple and it startled him awake so suddenly that he leapt to his feet and started swinging at his would be assailants.

"Come at me, ya bloody bastards!" He shouted at the wall, still trying to drive the sleep from his vision.

"Come here, you porcelain headed excuse for a tea set!"

Chip groaned and looked around to see Adam's beastly face glaring at him again through the bars.

"What is it?" he asked rubbing his temple and scowling back at his Master.

"There is someone here!"

Chip looked around again. "In your cell?"

"No, daft maw worm! Outside! Open up my cell and I'll show you!"

"Not if you are planning on throwing more stones at me."

"No need, I'll rip your throat out with my teeth. It's much more effective. Now will you come over here and unlock the door?"

Chip had to locate the keys underneath all the blankets that had piled up in the entryway of the tower. When he finally unlocked the door, Adam was standing back at the window of his cell gazing out. Chip approached cautiously and looked underneath Adam's arm into the blackness of the night.

"I don't see anyone."

"Down below, outside the gates. They've been trying to get inside for Heaven knows how long."

He moved aside so Chip could get a better look. At one point he stuck his whole head out the window and leaned so far forward that Adam had to grip him by the back of his jacket to ensure that he didn't fall. Finally he was able to locate two indistinct blobs outside the gates almost covered in snow.

"My God, there _is_ someone out there!"

Adam and Chip looked at each other for a moment. "Well, don't just stand there! Go let them in!"

"Adam, what if it's the Enchantress?"

"Then you should _definitely_ go down there and let her in. And whatever you do...take the stupid rose and offer her MY room."

"Oh ha ha! How you can have humor at a time like this!" These last words were said as Chip exited the tower cell and went to put his boots back on.

"Where will you be?"

"I'm coming with you. I'll stick to the shadows. They won't even know I was here."

"So, you are coming out of your cell after all?"

Adam paused before following Chip down the stairs. He looked around himself as if to terry there a little longer. "You promise you won't let me hurt anyone."

Chip nodded and gave a little half smile. "I'll sleep on my best pistol if it will make you feel better."

"It will."

"Adam, you know that if these are people and we let them in they could very well be stuck here until spring, same as us."

"If they are people and we don't let them in they could die. They might die regardless. How they could have made it to our gates is a miracle."

Chip nodded at the wisdom and then whipped down stair after stair until he had come to the front entryway of the castle. Adam secreted himself inside his favorite alcove and watched as his servant disappeared outside into the freezing night.

* * *

When Chip finally reached the end of the bridge he desperately wished he had brought a torch or at the very least a candle with him. He cursed himself for his stupidity and looked out past the gate.

"Hello!" He called out into the darkness. "Is anyone here!?"

The wind howled and with the way the trees swayed he saw movement everywhere. He was so intent on looking out into the forest and he almost jumped out of his skin when a small pale face appeared right outside the gate. "I am here!"

Chip gave a yelp and jumped back in alarm. There was so little light coming from the castle that he could only make an outline of a smallish figure. "Monsieur Chip, please help us!"

It took him several moments to realize and place where the voice had come from and where he had heard it before that he nearly gasped when he finally recognized Gabriel standing at his gate.

With trembling hands he unlocked the gates and tried to hold them steady so that they wouldn't swing too wide or shut suddenly on the boy. "What are you doing here?!"

"You told us to come here if we had any need! You said you would help us!"

Chip looked around Gabriel and again squinted into the darkness. "Us?"

"My mother, Monsieur. Please, she fell and we did not know anywhere else to go." And without further adieu, Gabriel seized Chip's coat and pulled him to the other side of the gate and indicated a small lump of dark fabric lying in the snow. Chip approached with caution and again jumped when the lump moved.

"Mistress Marie?" He said loudly. After some adjusting the dark coat was moved to reveal the very woman he had hoped never to see again. Sopping wet from the snow and almost blue from the cold. She shivered and whimpered something before showing Chip her ankle. It was swollen in her boot and bloody from what could be any kind of injury. The only word he could catch was the "please". He huffed a few times looking down at the woman at his feet. In that moment she looked nothing like Belle and he was relieved for that.

"Forgive me, Madam. I would not force you to stand on your injury so I must ask you to allow me to carry you inside." She seemed to have heard him because she nodded and without further preamble, Chip squatted down and put an arm under her knees and her back and lifted her without much strain. She was disturbingly thin and Chip wondered if the coat she had been wearing was heavier then she was. He looked down at the large bolt of fabric and was startled to see the royal crest on the lapel. It was massive and rich in texture and Chip knew immediately that it was Adam's coat. He must have left it somewhere in the woods when he killed the wolves. How these people could have possibly found it was testament to the fact that they must have been wondering the woods for who knows how long.

"How are you alive?" Chip murmured and the woman in his arms gripped his shirt front harder then before. Several times Chip glanced behind himself to make sure the boy was still following him and was rewarded with Gabriel's apprehensive face staring up at the castle parapets (as one would a fire breathing dragon).

Chip approached the front doors and kicked with all his might, feeling the wood give way and swing open. Taking long strides he was inside and hollered for all to hear that he needed help. He continued to shout long after he watched Adam's hulking shadow disappear into the darkness.

Entering the first room he came to he was relieved to see there was an uncovered sofa with several coverlets. When Lumiere and Cogsworth finally came rushing into the room, Chip was already at work trying to build a proper fire in the grate.

"For the love of the saints, Chip, what is the matter! The Master came pounding-" Chip's face silenced him immediately. The younger man gave an angry shake and he looked down at the sofa facing away from the two older men.

Both men stared at each other before slowly coming around the corner of the sofa. If this castle had taught them anything it was that when in doubt, assume it was an Enchantress or something equally as terrifying.

When they had cleared the edge of the sofa the two dark lumps came into focus. They were shivering uncontrollably and their little hands were clasped around Adam's winter coat. Lumiere came around to stand in front of them revealing a frail looking woman with her face half covered, gripping the hand of what could only be her son. Crouching down as near as he dared Lumiere looked deeply into the woman's face.

"Mon Dieu!" He whispered as both the people on the sofa shrunk back at the approach of the two new men. "It is a woman..."

Lumiere could only stare at the two creatures sitting on the well worn sofa. Gently, as if afraid they would startle and run away he picked up one of the blankets off to the side. "What 'as 'appened to you poor people?"

"We..we got lost...we didn't know where else to go." Gabriel's voice was choked with his shivers and he clung to his mother as if he were drowning.

"You are chilled to ze bone. Allow me." He unfolded the blanket and held it up. With as much gentleness as you would expect from him he started to remove the sodden black coat they were engulfed in. When Cogsworth caught a glimpse of the royal crest on the coat he finally spoke with more then a degree of suspicion in his voice.

"Where did you get that?"

Both faces looked up at him in alarm. "We found it in the woods, Monsieur. We were only trying to stay warm. We did not steal it."

"It's true, Cogsworth. He left it out there when he went hunting." Chip's cryptic words were spoken without looking at the four people behind him.

"Who left it out there?"

"His Hi-" But whatever Cogsworth was going to say was cut off by a violent cough from Chip who shook his head pointedly at the older man. For a moment he looked confused at Chip and then it seemed to dawn on him what he was trying to hide. He again looked deeply at the woman that Lumiere was attempting to coax out of the great wet coat meant for his beastly master. Something was so disturbingly familiar about her he found himself unable to look away.

"Ma Chere, I will not 'urt you. Sil vous plait, allow me." When she didn't answer Lumiere pulled the wet coat away to reveal that both the woman and her son were wearing barely any clothing. A simple dress, a pair of breeches, worn boots with holes. No hats or gloves; bare legs and hands. She grasped the scarf covering her face and whimpered when the coat brushed her swollen ankle.

"Mon Dieu." He whispered again and slowly covered the pair with blanket after blanket.

Looking up he caught Chip's expression who had thrown so many logs on the fire it was soon rolling heat into the room in waves.

Chip nodded and at the same time they started making their way to the door. Cogsworth, not having looked away from the pair on the sofa found himself being escorted out by both arms. Once they had cleared the door and shut it he gave a stern shake to both Lumiere and Chip.

"Stop man-handling me! Christoph Potts, explain yourself! Who are these people!?"

Chip leaned against the wall and looked around, hoping Adam would materialize out of the shadows. "That...is Mistress Marie and her son Gabriel. According to the locals she is the...village witch."

"She doesn't seem like a witch to me..." Lumiere mused, looking back at the closed door.

"She's not. We met them on the last hunt. The one before Princess Rosamund fell ill. They are just poor people who lived on the edge of...Lautrec."

Both men froze immediately, matching looks of horror on their faces. "You took Adam to Lautrec?!"

"I forgot it was that village-OW Cogsworth!" Upon which the older man had the younger man by the ear as if he were still a scrawny little boy.

"How could you be so careless?! First, you convince him to go hunting with you like a common forester then you take him to the very place..." But Cogsworth couldn't bring himself to say it. "Now, we have village waifs coming to our castle in the middle of the night and they are trapped here! What are we to tell the Master! How are we to explain-"

"You won't need to explain anything." The deep rumbling voice that came from the shadows startled everyone and Cogsworth immediately let go of Chip's ear. Adam slunk out of the darkness as only an animal could. "It was my choice to let them in."

"Sire, what are we to tell them? How are we to...?"

Adam gazed back at the door as if he could not hear his Major Domo.

"Is it really them, Chip?"

"Aye."

"Why did they come here?"

"I told them that if they ever needed help to come here. They just seemed so forlorn after you..."

"After I nearly tore her head off."

"Zere seems to be more to zis story zen we were led to believe." Lumiere watched the two younger men talk with rapt interest.

"Did she say anything about...what happened?"

"She didn't say a word. I think they were lost."

"Zey are boz practically naked. And 'er ankle could be broken. We need to make haste getting zem a place to sleep."

"Sire?" Cogsworth timid voice brought Adam back from staring at the closed door.

"She looks...she looks like..."

Adam turned his blue eyes on his advisers. "Don't say it! Don't even think it!"

"But, sir-"

In a voice that barely sounded like a voice, he quietly murmured with finality to his words. "It's not her. She is dead."

And with a sweep he turned and exited down the dark hall he had come in. "Wake the rest of the staff. Get them fed and find them some rooms. Do what you must and forget that I was ever here. They are your guests now."


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

 **Hey everyone! Hope this finds you healthy and happy! I meant to put it out earlier as it's just a little chapter but it needed some adjustments and that took a couple of days.**

 **-WriteYourDreamsTheyWillCome: I loved your review! I always knew that I had really intelligent readers and it makes me want to be a really intelligent writer in return. There were a lot of ways this story could have gone but every step was a conscious choice and I hope I am doing it justice. I am honored that you are reading and reviewing my work. I hope you continue to do so.**

 **SC (Guest): Isn't it so exciting! I've been waiting for those two to show up for ages...and I wrote this! And OMG! Now I have fifteen little side stories of interactions with Chip, Lumiere, and Adam swirling around in my head! They are literally my favorite people to write about. We're entering a different part of the story so they won't be as prevalent but I still have some good stuff up my sleeve with those three.**

 **To the other Guest who reviewed: I am so glad you like the songs. My favorite part of writing a chapter is attaching a good song lyric!**

 **Alrighty, well other then that this is a good build-up chapter. There are some subtle, beautiful moments and I am enjoying it immensely. Hope you do too! I will post another chapter by the weekend and I would love some reviews in the meantime! Thanks again everyone!**

* * *

" **Glitter in the Air" Pink**

 **Have you ever hated yourself for staring at the phone?**  
 **You're whole life waiting on the ring to prove you're not alone**  
 **Have you ever been touched so gently you had to cry?**  
 **Have you ever invited a stranger to come inside?**

 **And it's only half past the point of no return**  
 **The tip of the iceberg**  
 **The sun before the burn**  
 **The thunder before the lightning**  
 **Breath before the phrase**  
 **Have you ever felt this way?**

* * *

Mrs. Potts was a miracle worker. Both Lumiere and Cogsworth sent Chip to retrieve her. It was his fault in the first place that they now had guests to both entertain and hide from finding out about Adam. She listened to his story carefully as he told her every detail about the pair of strangers shivering in the entry drawing room.

A concerned look came to her eyes when he mentioned the times that both Adam and the other Heads of House had seen a resemblance in Mistress Marie's countenance. Then without another word she had dressed herself and went to work getting the maids up and about. In no time they had opened up the blue quarters, set large fires in the grates, found entire wardrobes for both the frail little woman and her son. Food was prepared and warm baths were drawn.

When Mrs. Potts finally went to meet her new guests she had to take a deep breath, steeling herself for what she might see when she came into the room.

It was stifling hot and the two lumps on the couch seemed to both be asleep. She approached them with several maids, hot on her heels.

After pulling back the blankets she was met with a pale face, sweating and breathing shallow. The woman attached to the face was holding her sleeping son and Mrs. Potts could clearly see the shiny tears still clinging to her eyelashes.

For a quiet moment, Mrs. Potts reached for the other woman's hand and to her surprise she didn't pull away. Marie looked up at the older woman with her one cinnamon colored eye and seemed to crumple in herself.

"There there, now. No need to fret. We've come to help."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Mrs. Potts, dear. You've met my son Chip. He tells me you had quite an adventure out in the woods."

"Will the Prince be angry when he finds out we intruded on his castle?"

"Why do you ask that?"

"He was so upset when I met him...he thought...he thought..."

"Don't you worry a trifle what he thought. In fact..." Mrs. Potts paused for a moment, biting on the lie she was about to tell. She had sworn that after the spell she would no longer have to live the lies that once dominated their lives. But the look of concern on the poor woman's face was almost too much and so she blundered on, hoping she was doing the right thing. "He is no longer in residence here. It's just us."

As if she were melting, the woman seemed to immediately relax and even gave a ghost of a smile.

"Now, I was led to believe that you are in need of some ministrations. May I?"

The younger woman nodded her head and began to remove the blankets. She winced as Mrs. Potts gently put her hand on her ankle and as slowly as she could, she began to turn it. A startled cry made her stop.

"Courage, dear. It could be broken and we need to find out."

"Marie." Came gritted reply.

"What is that?"

"I'm called Marie and I will try to hold still. Please continue."

After what felt like an interminable amount of time for Marie, Mrs. Potts smiled and looked her full in the face. "It is not broken. However, that awful boot must come off."

Several maids were set to work cutting her boot off her swollen foot. Gabriel was roused from his deep sleep and taken up to the Blue quarters in a groggy state of consciousness for a bath and food.

Mrs. Potts sat down on the vacant seat next to Marie and started to do all manner of little things that appeared important but were mostly for the older woman's peace of mind. Chip was right. Their guest was unnerving in her resemblance and it made Cordelia Potts' breath catch in her throat a little. With a gentle hand she helped the younger woman adjust her position on the sofa and the scarf covering her face slipped a little to reveal the shorn hair on Marie's head. Without thinking Mrs. Potts put a gentle hand out and brushed a few cut locks of the richest brown hair around Marie's ear.

As if she couldn't help herself, an explanation fell out of her mouth before Mrs. Potts even had a thought to make a comment. "It brought food for a month. I just wish they had let me cut it myself."

She pulled the scarf further over her head and Mrs. Potts helped her tie it so that it was secure. "Perhaps, I can help you with that."

Another ghost of a smile graced Marie's lips. "I would like that."

Chip was called back into the room and with a kind smile, again lifted Marie into his arms and carried her up to the Blue quarters behind his mother. Once deposited, he was immediately shooed away and Mrs. Potts took over once more.

Gabriel had never tasted food like what was presented to him that night and Marie felt like she was floating in a cloud when they finally wrapped her in a soft linen night dress. They were given the royal treatment and Marie bit her lip with guilt. If she had not been so exhausted she might have protested as the giggling maids wrapped what little hair she had left in a warm scarf and helped her to her own massive feather bed.

Surely she had stumbled on a dream and they were not being fed and clothed by the Prince's own household. Surely the other shoe would fall very very soon.

* * *

Adam paced. It was soothing and he had half a mind to go for a run out in the woods and then... just never come back. Why was it that when things were just starting to feel like the world was not, in fact, coming to an end, some other tragedy had to strike.

Chip found his Master in his frazzled state and almost laughed out loud. "Right as I left you."

"Shut it, Chip."

"We have guests! You should be thrilled!"

"Correction, YOU have guests."

"Last I checked, this was still your castle, Your Highness."

"Oh, grand idea! Let's just hold a formal court while the reigning sovereign looks like an abomination strait out of Hell."

"Well now, you don't look all that bad."

Adam gave Chip an impressive glare that would have frightened several grown men.

"You won't be able to keep yourself entirely a secret forever. If I recall that boy doesn't mind his mother nearly as well as I did."

"You never minded your mother."

"Exactly."

"What will you tell them then? The Prince is here, he just looks a little more like Cerberus now and less like Hades?"

"I doubt they would understand that reference."

Adam stopped pacing and looked out the window at the pink clouds just starting to indicate sunrise. "I would not wish to endure their looks...of horror at seeing me. I wouldn't have anyone see me if I could."

"That is no way to live, my friend."

"So what will you tell them?"

"My mother already told Mistress Marie that you weren't in residence anymore. The poor woman seemed to think the Prince was going to come barging in and throw her back out into the snow."

"Ridiculous! What could I possibly gain from doing that?"

"Need I remind you, sire, the last time she met you she-"

"You don't need to remind me."

"Her concerns are valid until we prove otherwise."

Adam paused for a moment before shaking his head as if to shrug off the whole idea altogether.

"I don't know how to do that."

Chip leaned against the windowsill and gazed back at his beastly friend. "Well, you won't have to do it alone."

At that moment Lumiere and Cogsworth found their master and Chip. Lumiere caught the very last word of the conversation. "Alone?"

Adam rolled his eyes dramatically. "Master Christoph has been spouting to me the virtues of full disclosure with our new guests."

"Hardly. But we are all in agreement that we will have to tell them something."

Lumiere's face quirked just a little in a smirk, as if remembering something only he found funny.

"Indeed. It zeems zat zey might be wiz us for quite some time."

"And we can't just all hide and pretend that no one is home?" Adam looked at his advisors from the corner of his eye, knowing his suggestion was ridiculous.

Cogsworth gave him a reproving glare. "And how do you think that will turn out?"

"I suppose that would depend on how good we all are at hiding. I happen to have some skill in that arena."

"And yet, Belle found you and her fazer wizout much difficulty at all."

"You led her to the tower, wax brain. And _I_ found _her_ , I do recall."

"So we are to just tell our guests that no one is home?" Cogsworth was still stuck on Adam's suggestion and the more he mentioned it the more ridiculous it sounded.

"She won't believe zat a bunch of servants just run rampant zrough zis castle wizout someone keeping zem in check. It doesn't work like zat."

"Perhaps we work for some kind of steward or Lord at the Prince's behest?"

Adam snorted a little at Chip's misunderstanding of aristocratic politics. "I am definitely not important enough to my uncle for that to be a reality."

"But it is a possibility. Your fazer 'ad a Duke who often stayed at ze winter palace. 'E was a braggart and a zief!"

Cogsworth nodded his head at the memory. "It could work, Your Highness."

"So I am someone….er…some _thing_ that the prince leaves here? A guardian of sorts?

"Zat could work, I suppose. At least for ze time being. It will keep up pretenses wiz ze staff while around our new guests."

"And what would we call you?" Cogsworth looked apprehensive at the idea of calling Adam anything below his station.

"The Beast, will do." Adam replied warily.

The former mantel clock looked like a frog puffing out its belly. "Over my dead body!"

"His Lordship, then?" Chip said with a slow chuckle.

Cogsworth still looked ill at the idea but seemed to accept that he would have to compromise for their plan to work. Adam and the rest of his staff nodded at the same time.

"His Lordship, the Beast, it is."


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

 **Hello everyone! Hope you are having a fine weekend! I wanted to get this out so you could enjoy it before the start of another crazy week!**

 **-SC (Guest) Thank you, as always, for reviewing! I feel like you are single-handedly keeping this fic going. And yes, Marie is a conundrum all on her own. She was the most difficult character to write for but decidedly the most rewarding. I can't wait for more of her to come out.**

 **-I realize that this chapter is formatted as an almost copy of the previous one. The first part is Marie, Gabriel, and the staff and the second half is Adam and his staff. This was done for a purpose. These people are playing a game of chess, swirling around the board and making different moves to discovery. I hope it doesn't come across as boring story-telling. If you could see the linear line of thinking that went into every move I make as an author, everything would seem at least well thought out. Unfortunately, you all have to read a chapter at a time so your patience is greatly appreciated.**

 **-I gave Mrs. Potts the name Cordelia. I like that name. Only real reason.**

 **-I love writing about Gabriel. He is at that beautiful age where he isn't quite a boy, not quite a man. He has bouts of wisdom far beyond his years and then can turn and throw childish fits without changing his expression. I know the pre-teen age gets such a bad rap but I honestly love them. I love their sincerity and their process in growing up. He is no exception and I wanted my readers to keep in mind that if Gabriel seems very interchangeable it's because...he is. We were all like that at some point. A little bit of everything.**

 **-I wanted to put in some wit between Adam and Cogsworth. I feel like they never get enough time together in my stories or any really. I feel like Cogsworth wouldn't do it often but on occasion he would dare to show a little cheek and share a little banter with his Master because in the end, they are deeply close friends and very respectful of each other. I wanted to show it where I could because Cogsworth just doesn't get enough time with fellows like Lumiere and Chip always stealing the show.**

 **-Overall I like this chapter a lot and am enjoying the build-up. I hope you all do as well. Keep letting me know what you think. It helps so much with the revising and writing process. Plus I just love the conversation and interest. It fuels me! Thanks again, and have a great week!**

* * *

 **"I Bet My Life" Imagine Dragons (Song is a little cliched but I love it sooo much!)**

 **Now remember when I told you that's the last you'll see of me**  
 **Remember when I broke you down to tears**  
 **I know I took the path that you would never want for me**  
 **I gave you hell through all the years**

 **I've been around the world and never in my wildest dreams**  
 **Would I come running home to you**  
 **I've told a million lies but now I tell a single truth**  
 **There's you in everything I do**

* * *

It took some doing but Adam had almost everyone in the castle convinced to refer to him as "His Lordship" if they had to refer to him at all. Unfortunately for Adam, it was made painfully clear how often his servants referred to him. Every conversation they had seemed to be about him or his family or the lifestyles lived at the castle. It wasn't two days after their guests had arrived that several maids let it slip that "His Lordship's rooms had not been prepared for the day."

Lumiere had been in the room at the time and had watched Marie's face instantly turn to look at the maids and he knew the secret was out.

"Who is 'His Lordship'?" Gabriel asked with a mouth full of bread and marmalade.

"Gabriel." Marie murmured sternly. She had been almost silent for the entire time she had been at the castle. Her son, however, never seemed to stop talking and asking questions. He had the brightest brown eyes Lumiere had ever seen and though he seemed to have his mother's coloring he had a shape to his face and body that seemed to come from an entirely different parentage.

"But Mother, how long are we going to stay here? Where is the Prince?"

Lumiere cleared his throat and smiled fondly at the boy. If only he could put his finger on the nagging sensation in the back of his mind whenever the boy spoke.

"Ze Prince 'as retired to 'is winter 'ome. And...I am afraid you are going to be stuck 'ere for a while. Ze snow is too 'igh to get zrough…. I should know..."

The boy looked again at Marie. "But mother, what about the cart!"

"Gabriel, leave it alone!"

"You came 'ere in a cart?" Lumiere tried to look inquisitive but he also knew that any bits of information he could glean out of these two would be helpful.

"No, we had one but it got stuck and we had to leave it behind." Her voice sounded embarrassed, as if she wished to change the subject as fast as she could. "It wasn't important."

"If you don't mind my asking, Mistress, what could you 'ave possibly been doing out in ze woods wiz a cart at a time like zis?"

Marie looked down at her plate and gave a warning glance to Gabriel. "We...We had to leave...we..."

The door swung open and in marched Mrs. Potts with a smile on her face and a tray of bandages and powders to administer to her reluctant patients.

"And how are we today, my dears? How is your ankle?"

Marie took a quick breath and turned her attention to Mrs. Potts as if she had not just been revealing something she would rather not. "Much better now, I thank you."

"And how have you liked the food? We have a great deal left in our stalk that we can make if you only ask."

"It's delicious!" That was Gabriel. Lumiere watched him from the side of his eyes, thinking what an odd boy he was.

"Ah, well. I will have to tell Harmon. He will be delighted to be cooking for someone who appreciates him."

Once again the boy asked. "Who is 'His Lordship'?"

"Gabriel!" Marie's words were much sterner now and she gave him a deep look of consternation.

Mrs. Potts and Lumiere shared a conspiratorial look.

"But Mama, I want to know! They keep saying 'His Lordship' this and 'His Lordship' that! Who is he?"

"We have been graciously allowed to stay at this castle, the least we can do is not make a nuisance of ourselves!"

"But Chip said-"

"Master Christoph!"

"Master _Christoph_ said we were welcome here and would not be turned away!"

"And here we are. Why are you trying to undermine that?"

"You said the Prince wouldn't want us and you didn't want to come, but there is a 'His Lordship' here and he could be worse!"

"You are being very rude, Gabriel!"

"But what if 'His Lordship-"

"If we are to be sent away then we are to be sent away! Leave it alone!"

"I won't! I won't leave it alone. It is their fault we were sent away in the first place!"

And with an accusing finger Gabriel pointed a hand at Lumiere and Mrs. Potts who had been watching the argument with embarrassment.

"What does 'e mean?"

" _Master Christoph_ gave us a sack of gold pieces! He ruined EVERYTHING!"

And without another word Gabriel leapt to his feet, threw his napkin to the ground, and took off out of the breakfast room.

"Gabriel!" Marie tried to get to her feet to follow her son and immediately lost her balance on her sore ankle. She almost tumbled to the floor if the footman standing at the door hadn't reached out and grasped her hand before she toppled out of her chair.

"What sack of gold pieces?"

Marie seemed to be holding back tears and was clutching her scarf around her face angrily, disgusted at her own weakness.

"It was nothing."

"It sounded like somezing."

"The Prince came to our home last week; we didn't know it was him. When we found out, Master Christoph gave us a sack of gold pieces for our silence. We wouldn't have told anyone, we swear!"

"Zat is not ze problem 'ere. 'E said you were sent away because of ze gold. Why?"

Marie looked helplessly at her barely touched food. "The village found out. They said I stole it or bewitched someone into giving it to me. The man who owned our house said he wouldn't allow thieves to live there and the villagers said we could not stay. We tried to make it to the next village when it started to snow. We thought we could cut through the woods but it was just too far."

There was a tremble in her voice that Lumiere did not like. He took a gentle step in her direction and she shook her head emphatically. "We do not ask for charity, Monsieur. As you can see it has gotten us into enough trouble as it is."

Then putting up a hand to indicate that she did not want any help she began the painful limp out of the breakfast room and down the long corridors to her rooms. She would not be pitied.

Lumiere and Mrs. Potts stood in silence watching her go.

Both took a breath and then Lumiere spoke. "Cordelia...I just can't 'elp but zink zat..."

"I know Lumiere...I know...But we mustn't say it. We mustn't think it. That way only leads to unhappiness."

"As you wish, Madam."

And they both turned and left to attend to their other duties.

* * *

Hours later found Adam in the West Wing ready to come out of his skin. Cogsworth had already sent the valet away and had been trying to get his Master's attention for the better part of a half hour.

"If you would only allow me to-"

"Enough, Cogsworth, you've already told me fifteen times where they are and what they did today. And I know you are fully aware that I was watching the entire time as it is."

"That is a nasty habit I had hoped you had disposed of in your youth."

"I did dispose of it in my youth on the grounds that I could no longer climb the walls and hide in plain sight. A boon that I have been able to regain the ability."

"What if they had looked up and seen you."

"No one ever does. You all trust this castle far too much."

"I don't suppose you heard the bit about the gold pieces."

"Gold pieces?"

"Ah, so you are not omni-present after all."

"What about gold pieces?"

But the explanation would have to wait as Chip and his mother had finally come into the room with Adam's afternoon luncheon.

Adam took one look at it and huffed away to the window, his tale twitching madly.

"It's happening again." Chip murmured near Adam's elbow.

"I will be alright." Adam responded without looking away from the window.

"Adam, you promised to try."

"Leave me be, Chip. We have more important things to worry about then my restlessness."

"Actually, at the moment they have requested that we leave them alone. It would seem we are a bit smothering." Cogsworth said with more then a little irony.

Adam almost chuckled. "I could have told you that. Those poor people are in for a season if they are to be our only guests."

"Are they really to stay the whole winter?"

"Do you see any alternative, Cogsworth? Are you planning on throwing them out? I am not; I've learned my lesson." Adam again looked darkly out the window.

"Poor dears. To think what happened to them." Mrs. Potts made a sniffing noise and it finally caused Adam to look away from his brooding.

"What happened to them?"

"He wasn't there, Cordelia. He was conveniently sulking and avoiding the affair altogether."

Cogsworth gave the other Head of House a knowing look.

"Alright, out with it. Enough of your skirting!" Adam gave an impressive glare.

Chip cleared his throat and looked nervous. "It would seem, Your Grace, that no good deed goes unpunished. They were driven from their village because of the gold we left them for their silence."

"The gold YOU left them, you mean."

"And I was supposed to just leave them with nothing after you tore that poor woman's scarf off and terrorized her to within an inch of her sanity?"

Mrs. Potts gasped a little and gave Adam a reproachful look. "Adam!"

"How was I to know she was scarred and deformed!? I forgot myself... it will not happen again."

No one said anything for a moment before Cogsworth spoke softly. "Is that what she is hiding? A deformity?"

Adam looked away from them all again. "No worse then my own, I assure you."

"That doesn't excuse you rushing in there and making her feel worse about it!" Mrs. Potts was not going to let this one go.

Adam whipped around, and to his credit he genuinly looked remorseful through those beastly features of his. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt her or anyone! I wanted her to be Belle so badly that I believed it when everything else was proving contrary. When I took her scarf off I was sure it would be my….wife…looking back at me. It wasn't….. It wasn't about her scars and how they look….it was about Belle. It's always about Belle."

The awkward silence that followed made Adam turn towards the window again in a huff.

"They seem to be scared senseless. She is entirely uneasy about accepting our help for anything." Cogsworth finally ventured forth again.

"That must be remarkably frustrating for you, I would imagine." Adam deadpanned.

"Oh, I am used to it. In fact, they would get on right nicely with my Master. He is as bull-headed as he looks."

"I should call you out for that." Adam gave Cogsworth another grave look.

"And what weapons would you choose? I'm afraid I am ill-matched to your effects of choice."

"Perhaps I will throw you out into the snow and see how long you fare out there. Doubt I left another coat for you to stumble upon."

"Speaking of going out into the snow." Chip piped in between the banter.

"We weren't speaking of that."

"But I would like to."

"You are not my nursemaid! Leave it alone."

"But I am." Mrs. Potts finally said giving Adam a determined look.

"Not you too! How could you go along with his hair-brained schemes?"

Mrs. Potts took Adam's arm and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Because I cannot watch you sit in that tower cell again. What can we do? Are you hungry?"

Adam again gazed at the food they had brought and could not have wanted something less to eat.

"I'm not hungry."

"But you are."

"What I want..."

"Is no different then what we all want."

"You want the still beating heart of a wolf between your teeth?"

Cogsworth looked revolted and Chip laughed. "Do you honestly want to eat another wolf?"

Adam thought about it for a moment and then finally shook his head. "Not wolf, per se."

"A good venison sounds phenomenal right now, if I do say so myself."

"I doubt I would be able to find any with this never-ending storm."

"Well, if you happen to at least catch a few rabbits, could you bring one back for me. If I have to eat any more week-old meat I might have to turn to a diet of boiled potatoes only."

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Chip! Harmon's cooking isn't all that bad!" Chip's mother gave her son an offended look.

"I suppose I have no choice but to go out then." Adam said quietly though there seemed to be a focus and a liveliness that had not been there moments before.

"We'll be watching for your return. And don't worry; we know what to do when you do come back."

"What of our guests?"

"We'll continue to smother. It's what we do."


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

 **Hey Hey Hey! I wanted to get another chapter out before I left for a long weekend. I hope everyone is having a fine week.**

 **-Lots of build-up in the this chapter and the last few chapters but all good writing, I do believe.**

 **-This chapter kind of shows the other side of Gabriel. The thoughtful, almost-a-man side of Gabriel. And of course so much plot unraveling as these characters continue to swirl the board before a big a face off. I'm so excited about it.**

 **-I hope everyone is still enjoying this. If not, review anyways. I would love the feedback! It fuels my fire!**

-Other then that, have a great weekend and I will try to post within the week. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

 **"The Call" Regina Spektor**

Now we're back to the beginning  
It's just a feeling and no one knows yet  
But just because they can't feel it too  
Doesn't mean that you have to forget  
Let your memories grow stronger and stronger  
'Til they're before your eyes  
You'll come back when they call you  
No need to say goodbye  
You'll come back when they call you  
No need to say goodbye

* * *

The night had come on quickly and Gabriel was bored to pieces. His mother had retired to bed early as she had every evening they had been there. Gabriel couldn't bring himself to wake her as it was a rare thing when she slept peacefully. He had been very young when his mother's nightmares had startled him awake. He could usually get back to sleep afterwards but it wasn't long before he realized that she seemed to be dreaming about the same thing every night. Over and over she would call for someone. He was never quite sure he could hear her correctly but whoever it was she was looking for in her dreams, that person never seemed to show up.

Gabriel walked the length of the stay room. It was larger then their entire cottage in Lautrec. His room was to one side and hers was to the other. He wasn't entirely sure why they were separated when more room could have been spared had they both shared the same bedroom as they had done since he was born. But then... when you had this much space you might as well use it, he supposed.

His mother had told him to touch nothing. That as soon as she had time to think and the storm had passed, they would leave this strange place. But Gabriel knew better. She tried to pretend they had somewhere to go but he knew they didn't. As far as he had ever heard or understood she had no family and nowhere to go. In fact, if there had ever been someone, his mother would not know they existed. He had never heard stories of her childhood, never known a sister or an uncle who came to claim them. He grew up living in the home of a village washer woman. A lively old crone who used to sneak him biscuits and taught him how to tie his knots and chop wood. When she had died so had the only person in the world who would ever care whether they lived or died.

Even if they could make it through the snowy woods alive there was nowhere for them to go. Nowhere that they would not be under suspicion and assumption. With his mother's ailing health, lack of workable skills, and her mysterious scarf she always wore over her face, they were doomed. And getting more so by the hour. By the time they had lived in their cottage for a year she had already sold everything she owned including her long brown hair to keep them both from starving. Well... everything but the small chest she had kept hidden underneath her bed. Gabriel knew that it was something priceless to her and it was one of the only things they had been permitted to bring onto their cart when they were forced to leave their cottage four days ago. He didn't know what was in it but he knew that his mother kept it close to her whenever she could. As if it held the secrets to the past Gabriel knew nothing about.

And then they had left it behind when they had trekked through the woods looking for shelter. Gabriel tried to remember the steps they took to get here so that he could retrace them and go and retrieve the chest when he wasn't so worried about his mother anymore. With the chest he was sure they would be able to figure out where to go.

Gabriel sighed and stretched. He had to admit that as strange as these servants were and how ominous the castle, you couldn't beat the taste of the food or the feel of the warm clothing they had insisted he wear. He had never even seen clothes like the ones he was wearing before. And there was a funny older man who came in and helped him dress every day which was startling to no end. They called him a "valet" and that Gabriel was sharing him with 'His Lordship'.

Gabriel didn't know what to think about a human that you shared with someone else. The way you share a cup or an ax. Stranger still that this person was being shared with him by the one they called 'His Lordship'. That obviously meant something but Gabriel couldn't seem to get the information out of the servants without his mother spiraling into fits about his impropriety.

As if he was supposed to be proper, he thought. If he were lucky he might possibly be a servant himself one day. Propriety was for a gentleman and the sons and daughters of gentlemen. Gabriel mused that he neither was nor ever would be either.

 _'Let's face it'_ He thought to himself _'my station in life is even lower then these servants.'_

Pulling back the curtains he looked out the window into the darkening skies. He anxiously wondered how long he would have to stay in these marvelous, but confining, blue rooms with his mother and nothing to do. Wearing funny clothes and speaking to funny people as if he were some grand guest at their magnificent castle.

He looked out along the bridge and was startled to see something out there. To his surprise it looked like wolves. The movement was erratic and to his utter astonishment the largest wolf stood up on hind legs, unlatched the gate, opened the door, took a large mass between it's teeth and began to drag it along the bridge. It even had the courtesy to kick the gate closed behind it.

Gabriel watched in fascination as the would-be-wolf walked slowly along the bridge getting bigger and bigger until Gabriel realized with horror that whatever was walking along the bridge, and could open and close gates, was not, in fact, a wolf. It was...a monster. A massive, towering monster dragging the biggest elk Gabriel had ever seen in its teeth.

He gave a yelp and looked around to call for help, shoving open the window to scream down at the creature. Surely the inhabitants of this castle were not prepared to fend off a wild monster!

But before he had a chance, a figure came running down the snowy path of the castle bridge. His thin legs practically skittering on top of snow. With eyes as wide as dinner plates, Gabriel watched as the figure of Master Christoph began to help the monster drag the elk towards the castle grounds.

It was bizarre and terrifying on an astronomical level and Gabriel couldn't look away until they were completely out of sight. He was sure that had been Master Christoph. He was the only one in the castle with hair so light it almost looked white.

Sitting numbly for what felt like hours the possibilities swirled in his head. What was this castle doing housing a monster? That thing he saw was more terrifying then any nightmare he could imagine or any campfire story he had ever endured. And yet, Master Christoph allowed it to come onto the castle grounds. He'd helped it.

For the first time since coming here, Gabriel started to wonder if perhaps the hospitality of these people had more meaning behind it then he had previously been led to believe.

* * *

"And how are we this fine morning, my dears?" Mrs. Potts entered the sitting room with a tray of tea and a broad smile. It had been a good morning so far. Adam had returned after only half a day of running wild in the woods and to her delight had come with a pep in his step that had not been there before. Perhaps there was something to Chip's little experiment after all. And to make things even better Adam had tracked down a herd of Elk and killed three of them dragging one with him to the butcher house on the grounds and leading a team back for the other two before the wolves got them. They would have fresh meat in their food for several weeks and everyone seemed excited about it. If you had to be snowed in at least you could eat well.

Lumiere and Cogsworth followed close behind her. After having made their rounds they gave Mistress Marie the courtesy she deserved and Mrs. Potts went about preparing cups of tea for her guests.

Marie smiled at her hosts and gently took her cup, trying to remember if she knew how to do the job properly. Even sipping tea had its rules and regulations. Gabriel, however, touched nothing. He had been in a foul mood since she had awoken this morning and had refused to allow anyone to touch him. She had tried to get his attention for the entire morning and had only been able to receive a few glares. Her nerves were on edge as she worried over what would become of them. She couldn't be sure if he fully understood but she knew that she was no longer in a place to pretend with him that they were going to be able to get by. They weren't. They would have died out in those woods if it had not been for this castle showing up out of nowhere.

And yet, she felt the clock ticking on her time here. Something was so amiss about the way her surroundings made her feel. As if they reminded her of somewhere she had been before. Somewhere deep in the back of her brain of a time she just couldn't quite remember. Of course it was absurd; she had never visited such a place as this.

She needed to know where she stood. What her options were. She needed to talk to someone who could help her in some way to save her son.

To give him something that would save him from their fate. If she was to starve, at least she would know that Gabriel would always have a full belly and a place to sleep. Somewhere that would never require him to flee in the night with his deformed mother and her shadow blotted past.

Finally Marie looked up and was met with the eyes of the short fat man they called Cogsworth.

"Biscuit, Madam?" He held up a beautiful plate full with a smile and Marie gazed at him for a moment before taking it. He always seemed to have a small tick around his eye when she looked at him. As if he saw something that made him nervous.

"Such a fine day today. If you are feeling up to it perhaps we could show you a bit more of the castle." Mrs. Potts fussed around the table where Marie and Gabriel sat. "What would you like?"

Marie swallowed and then looked at the three Heads of House with a startled expression. "I would like to meet His Lordship."

The smiles slipped from their faces as quickly as if she had just admitted to a murder. Gabriel looked stunned and for once had nothing to say.

Cogsworth was the first to recover and cleared his throat before trying to appear put-together.

"His Lordship is not, at this present time, receiving any visitors."

"If he is not receiving visitors then why are you serving us tea?"

"He is not unreasonable and would not deprive you of the comforts of the castle if-"

"Monsieur Cogsworth, we are indebted greatly to you and to whomever is the current master of this castle."

"It is nothing, Madam, it is-"

"That is just it. It is not nothing and we cannot continue unless we have been permitted to express our gratitude to His Lordship himself. We are not beggars, Monsieur. I cannot, in good conscience, intrude on his hospitality without finding an understanding between us and to do so I must insist that we see him ourselves. Otherwise we must depart almost at once."

"If you leave, you will die." Lumiere murmured gravely at the pair.

Marie looked at him with the determination of a queen, though her countenance was so thin and frail. "Then we will die knowing we did not take anything from anyone that was not owed to us.

There didn't seem to be anything to say to that. Mrs. Potts turned and looked at the other two and gave a small smile. "Well then, you heard her. We shall go inform His Lordship that our guests require an audience."

Cogsworth looked dumbfounded. "Are you sure that is wise?"

"Well dear, we are not always known for our wise choices in this castle but we are known for our bravery and our guests have been more then brave enough to be rewarded for. And besides, he isn't going to gobble them up, despite what he might say."

"Are you sure about that?" Gabriel asked cryptically and his mother gave him a quizzical look which he ignored.

"Believe it or not, The Master is very kind and will see you if you insist on it."

"We do."

Cogsworth swallowed again knowing it would be him that would have to go inform Adam of Mistress Marie's demands. "Be it on your heads then."

* * *

Adam paced his study with as much snorting and growling as he wished. "You cannot be serious?"

"She was deadly serious, so to speak." Lumiere said with a touch of humor.

"What am I to say to them?"

"I have a feeling they have a few things they want to say to you." Cogsworth muttered while wringing his hands.

"They won't recognize you, if that is what you are worried about." Chip put in.

Adam gave him an incredulous look and gestured to himself. "Oh yes, that was what I was worried about!"

"Well there is nothing to do for it, Adam. They want to meet you. She is terribly honest and refuses to be given hand-outs and so you'll have to discuss it with her."

"Why is this so difficult for them to understand? They can stay here until the snow clears. Nothing more sinister then that."

Mrs. Potts gave him a soft look. "Please try to understand. I believe she has had it rough for... a long time. She needs to know that she has done her part and that nothing bad will happen to her and her son."

"And none of your reassurances have achieved that for her?"

"I'm afraid my reassurances are only those of a kindly servant. She needs the absolutes of the Master."

"Well, she is about to be sorely disappointed when she finally is faced with...something like me."

"But you will do it?"

Adam gave a pained look but then finally nodded as if it physically hurt him. "Yes, God help me, yes."

Lumiere shuffled his feet a little. "Perhaps after sunset? Ze light will be gentler at zat time."

"I don't think any amount of lighting will prepare them for seeing me. Just... be ready to do some explaining afterwards."

"And you do your best not scare them senseless. They've been through enough as it is." Mrs. Potts gave Adam a stern look.

"If you were worried about scaring them, perhaps you should have tried harder to avoid this situation altogether."

"My dear, you are remarkably gentle and kind when you choose to be. Show her that side of you and it won't matter what you look like. Only how you made them feel."

"That's all it takes?"

"That's all it takes."

"Very well, then."


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

 **-Guys...Guys! This is SUCH an amazing CHAPTER. I mean, the next few are just this huge whirlwind adventure and I cannot wait for you to read it! If you haven't been reviewing for some reason you really should take it up now! There is good stuff coming! And this is one of those "stuffs"**

 **-Liberty (Guest): Okay...I did! Just for you!**

 **SC (Guest): Dun DUN DUNNNNNN I know right? So much intriguing plot to sift through. I love that you are catching all the subtle nuance. It makes me feel so proud to be the author of this**

 **-This chapter is honestly one of my favorites. It hails a lot to Robin McKinley's "Beauty" so if you are a fan of that book then you will see some of the parallels. I spent hours combing through this chapter to make it just right and I would love your input on the matter. I am very interested to see what my readers pick up, think, don't like, squeel over, etc. You know, the usual stuff.**

 **-As always, have a great weekend and I will update again soon!**

* * *

 **"Courage Is" The Strange Familiar**

 **Take all my viscous words**

 **and turn them into something good**

 **Take all my preconceptions**

 **and let the truth be understood**

 **Take all my prized possessions**

 **and leave only what I need**

 **Take all my pieces of doubt**

 **and let me be what's underneath**

 **Courage is when you're afraid**

 **but you keep on moving anyway**

 **Courage is when you're in pain**

 **but you keep on living anyway**

* * *

Marie had Gabriel's hand in one of hers and a cane in the other as they made their way up several sets of stairs and endless corridors. They walked interminably slow but Lumiere didn't seem to mind in the slightest. In fact when he noticed her faltering in her assent he randomly found some interesting fact about that particular staircase or a painting on the wall to divert their attention while she caught her breath. She knew she had lost a lot of weight. Her clothes had been pinned up and through so many times there didn't seem to be anything more to pin if it was to have any shape at all. Just walking down a hallway was almost torture and she wished she didn't feel so unfathomably tired.

Finally they came to what the Butler referred to as 'The West Wing'. It suddenly dawned on her that this was a startlingly important moment. She was about to meet 'His Lordship'. That must mean something because all the servants seem to revere him. He was, as they put it, the Master of the Castle while the prince was away.

She trembled a little and wished she had eaten more. What if he yelled at her? What if he threw them out? What if he demanded something of her she could not give? Some sort of payment for his generosity.

Gabriel had mentioned something about an animal he had seen outside the castle the night before. What if he was eccentric and kept wild animals in this castle and fed wary travelers to them when they displeased him?!

Marie felt her nerves seize up all over her body. She mustn't let her wild imagination get the better of her. She wished she knew where all her silly ideas came from. Nevertheless, she stopped and looked at the door apprehensively.

"Mother?" Gabriel murmured when he felt that she had stopped. Lumiere immediately turned from speaking with some sort of guard who had been standing outside the door of the West Wing. He gave her a measured look through his kind brown eyes. Then to her surprise he reached out a hand and placed it atop the one holding her cane. "Ma Chere," he said softly with a gentle smile. "Do not worry. Ze master...'e is not so fearsome as 'e appears."

Marie swallowed with fear. "What do you mean?"

"I mean zat...You 'ave nozing to be afraid of. Remember zat after you meet 'im."

He turned back to the door and it was opened with a nod of his head. They entered a dimly lit entry room. It was so large one could not even see the ceiling and stretched out so far Marie could only see the outline of doorways to even more rooms. There was a fire in the grate that had been banked low but still emitted enough heat and light to make her cheeks feel warm. An enormous chair was pulled up to the fire with it's back to the door and a cute little end table next to the chair where a tea service had been set, untouched.

The whole set up wouldn't have been nearly as unnerving but the for the fact that someone occupied that chair next to the fire. Someone very large and unseen to the little group standing at the doorway.

"Your Lordship? Our guests are 'ere to see you." Lumiere said with a remarkable touch of respect.

The shape in the chair shifted and Marie felt faint but strangely reassured at the way Lumiere seemed to settle into himself at the door with that ever-present kind smile for her and her son.

"What can I do for you, Madam?" The voice was so deep and rough that it drove all the air out of Marie's chest and she trained her eyes on the chair, expecting it's occupants to spring to life at any moment. The voice of 'His Lordship' sent tingles down her spine that weren't entirely unfamiliar.

"We came to His Highness's castle two days ago, Your Lordship. We would not wish to impose on your hospitality further without knowing your wishes or the wishes of His Highness." Her voice was more sure then she felt.

"Very noble, indeed, Mistress. You needn't have worried. You are not the first to come to this castle seeking refuge. We require nothing of you but your comfort."

"Begging your pardon, Your Lordship, but I would not wish to be as pitiable as all that. We are capable of working and willing to do so. I would not take anything from you that is not owed to us."

There seemed to be a shift in atmosphere of the room. As if his interest had suddenly become more focused. There was something so terrible and intriguing about the sound of his voice. It reminded her of something familiar in the back of her mind and she wanted him to continue to speak so that she could eventually remember it.

"Might I ask where you learned to speak so eloquently, Mistress? Surely you are not the type of person to come begging to scrub staircases and chamber pots."

"If it meant we were no longer a burden on His Lordship."

"You are not a burden...not to me." His voice betrayed his kindness and he fell silent as if he had spoken more than he had meant to.

"But what of the Prince? What would he say of our intrusion?"

There was silence for a moment before the words came out so much quieter in the strange, gravely voice from the chair by the fire. "He would say...How terribly sorry he was for his last encounter with you, Mistress. And would beg you to please continue to intrude on his hospitality in payment for the pain he caused you."

No one spoke and Gabriel looked from his mother, to the chair, and then back to his mother again.

"He told you then?"

"He did."

"Are you so very close to His Highness?"

"Closer than you would believe."

Lumiere gave a little snort that he masked as a coughing fit and then resumed his indifferent position by the door.

"And what if he returns and you were mistaken?"

There was another impatient shift and the voice grew a little firm. "I am not mistaken. And you needn't worry over his return. The snow and...many other factors have prevented the Prince from returning for the foreseeable future."

"It all sounds rather underhanded if you ask me."

"If you believe that I am the Master of this castle then you must believe that I know the Prince's mind. You must also believe that if I say you can stay, then you really must stay. In fact, I insist upon it."

"And what if we refuse?"

"On what grounds, Madam?" There was a hint of irritation in the already rough voice.

She paused, realizing that she was surly treading on dangerous grounds as it was. The light was so dim in the room that she would have liked to ask for another candle but knew it was not her place to do so.

"I have not even seen your face yet, your Lordship. How are we to trust you will keep your word?"

"And is seeing my face required for me to earn your trust, My lady?" came the tired reply.

Marie knew the hypocrisy of her request. She had no intention of removing the scarf from her face but she couldn't help but believe that seeing him would solve some sort of mystery for her.

"It is, My Lord."

There was a deep sigh. "Very well, then."

Adam rose up in one fluid, slow motion and as he did so he raised his face. He stood a head or two taller then the chair itself and Marie's brain had trouble following what she was seeing. As slow as the centuries, Adam turned himself about and stepped into the light of the calm fire so that he was now facing the pair in audience. He towered over them and cast a shadow across their horrified features. Gabriel took a protective step towards his mother but she didn't move. Even with only half her face covered, Adam could see every detail of her shock and dismay at what he looked like. She seemed unable to process what she was seeing. He tried his best to ease back into a relaxed position and looked her full in the face without a hint of anything threatening on his features.

"Oh, no!" She whispered.

Gabriel put his arm around his mother but she seemed unable to look away.

"What are you?" She let out breathlessly.

"I am many things. At the moment, the master of this castle."

"It was you." Gabriel finally spoke having never taken his eyes from Adam. "I saw a monster on the bridge last night. It was you."

Adam turned and looked at Lumiere and to Gabriel's surprise the Butler gave a confused shrug. Even more surprising was that 'the monster' rolled his massive blue eyes and gave a disgusted look at the slender man standing next to the door. This was not how animals behaved. Reality was bending somehow and Gabriel couldn't seem to understand it.

"I apologize for that. You were not supposed to have seen me while you were in residence here."

Marie kept her wide eyes trained on the beast in front of her but she seemed to regain some of her composure as she finally spoke. "You never would have confronted us?"

"Judging from your current reaction, Madam, I think you can understand my aversion to being seen by you." Adam's voice grew a few degrees colder and the hurt look in his eyes made Lumiere clear his throat and give his master a look that spoke volumes which only Adam could understand.

"And you truly want nothing from us?"

Adam again rolled his eyes. Gabriel had to admit he was rather good at that. "If you recall, it was you who wanted something from me."

The boy shook his head. "We want nothing from you. You lied to us! We were to see His Lordship. Not some...some..."

"Monster?" Adam finished with just a touch of venom in his voice. "As it stands, I did not lie. I _am_ the master of this castle. Fur, fangs and all."

Both Marie and Gabriel turned and looked at Lumiere who nodded his head in the affirmative.

"I don't understand." Marie murmured with a touch more courage then she had shown before.

"And I am the last creature in this world who can give you understanding. You required my audience and you have it. I am here at the Prince's behest and I intend to do my duties by him and you."

Marie took a shaky breath and to Adam's utter astonishment she took a step in his direction so that they were both pooled in the light from the fire. It inched across her face and Adam could see the lines of fatigue and emaciation that characterized her countenance. He had the benefit of being so tall that she could only see shadows and a pair of the most beautiful glittering eyes. It was unnerving and she willed herself not to look him in the face.

"If what you say is true and you do not mean us any harm then I would speak with you about how we might repay your kindness."

"Is it not enough for you that we give of it freely in this castle?"

"I cannot accept it as a charity."

"Why ever not, Madam? Why are you doing this at all when it is clear that I frighten you so much?"

His voice was so soft she could almost hear a timbre in it that might have belonged to someone else. She glanced up in the direction of his face. "I must be brave, My Lord. Otherwise what would I be but a coward? That is no example to show to my son."

And in that moment Adam was so painfully reminded of Belle that he had to close his mouth and look away. This strange little woman standing in front of him was half starved and damaged beyond repair and yet she could do nothing but show her bravery. He felt himself fall a little in love with her right there and then and would that he could touch her to show her she needn't be afraid.

"You are a credit to your family, My Lady."

"What can we do to show our good faith, My Lord?"

Adam cleared his throat as if finally giving into something. "Am I to assume you have some skills that could be beneficial to us? We are in desperate need of good conversation around here. Do you have any talent in that area?"

For the first time since she came to the castle the smallest of smiles traced her lips before she pushed it back down. "I do, My Lord, I was taught by a wise old woman who took me in when I was...younger."

"Nothing too mystical, I would hope."

"I wouldn't have thought you would have minded that element so much. Judging by _your_ presence here." It was so bold and held a touch of humor that Lumiere actually raised his eyebrows and Adam gave a chuckle. The sound of it made the hairs on Marie's neck raise in alarm but she stood her ground and didn't turn away.

"Indeed not, My Lady, Indeed not." Then clearing his throat he continued.

"Then allow us to have you as our guest. Goodness knows my staff could benefit from the distraction. And in return you can teach us what you know."

Gabriel seemed to be exploding behind the pair as they made their exchange. "Mother! I don't wish to stay here!"

"Hush, Gabriel." She said, turning back to him as if she had almost forgotten he was there.

"But Mother, we don't have to stay here. What about the chest-"

"Gabriel, please!"

"You can't keep us prisoner here!" He said, now directing his anger at Adam.

"At present, the weather is keeping you prisoner here. Not I."

"I don't want to stay here with you!"

"Gabriel..." Marie seemed to be close to tears and Adam felt a pang of sympathy for her. She was afraid that Gabriel would incur his wrath and thus reverse all the work she had done in coming here to talk to him.

"What you want and what you need do not seem to be equals in this situation, my boy."

Gabriel made a disgusted face at Adam. He was distinctly reminded of the first time he had seen him hanging his head over the cliff to save him after his fall. How different the child looked now. As if he had had to grow up so quickly in the space of just a few weeks.

"I'm not your anything! You can't keep me here!" And without another word he turned tail and barreled for the door so quickly Lumiere had to scramble to open it for him.

Marie turned to look at Adam with so much fear and regret on her face that Adam forgot to be astounded. "Please, please forgive him! He doesn't mean what he says-"

Adam put up a paw and she immediately stopped talking. "We shall not talk about it. In return you will accept the hospitality we offer you without further argument. I will attempt to stay out of your way and leave my staff to do their work. I trust you can agree to those terms."

She nodded her head as if she couldn't bear to say another word. Adam, unable to look at her sad, down-turned head nodded at Lumiere.

The Butler immediately sprang to Marie's side and tenderly took her by the elbow. She allowed herself to be guided out of the room with just one backwards glance as Adam resumed his seat by the fire.

"Thank you, My Lord." She whispered before disappearing out the door. But Adam had heard her.


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

 **HOLY COW! I got sooooooo many awesome reviews. And so diverse. Let me go over some of them!**

 **Writeyourdreamstheywillcome: Thank you for the suggestion. One of the things I am learning is editing. I comb over each chapter about ten times but I often miss things. That is probably why I am practicing writing (in essence) fan fiction because it allows me to learn with subjects I am so passionate about. Then when I start working on real writing that I want to have published I am hoping to be better then I was before I started. So your feedback is priceless to me. I will continue to work on it. Can't guarantee I will always catch it but I would love your honest opinions on EVERYTHING.**

 **SC Guest: Your reviews never cease to fill me up and make me laugh. Honestly I go back and reread my own chapters after reading your reviews just to see it from your eyes. _I_ have so many questions and I know what is going to happen! This next chapter should answer a few. And the chapters after that will just unravel everything. But if you have anything specific that doesn't give away spoilers PLEASE ask it! ;)**

 **dc64465: That is high praise indeed as there are a lot of good fics out there! I hope you keep enjoying it!**

 **Guest (for that is the only user name I have): I am so happy you are chuffed about updates. I am chuffed that you read it! Thank you so much for your review.**

 **-ALRIGHTY! I can honestly say this is one of my favorite chapters. I might say that about ten more times as we go, but honestly, I have reread this a thousand times. I will admit that it is VERY emotional. That might mean that I was unable to "slay some of my darlings" when it comes to cutting out needless paragraphs. I am incredibly attached to the relationships that develop in this chapter and the concept altogether.**

 **-I have to say, guys. I love Gabriel. I just love him. That is all.**

 **-I am so excited for you all to read this! Please please please please keep reviewing. It has been a life saver in keeping me going with this fic. And now that things are getting really interesting I hope that it will inspire your reviewing juices.**

 **-Have a great week, everyone! I will post the next EPIC chapter next week!**

* * *

 **"Family Tree" Matthew West (Kind of long lyrics this time but it was just so darn applicable.)**

 **I have a dream for you**  
 **It's better than where you've been**  
 **It's bigger than your imagination**  
 **You're gonna find real love**  
 **And you're gonna hold your kids**  
 **You'll change the course of generations**

 **No, this is not your legacy**  
 **This is not your destiny**  
 **Yesterday does not define you**  
 **No, this is not your legacy**  
 **This is not your meant to be**  
 **I can break the chains that bind you**

 **Cause you're my child**  
 **You're my chosen**  
 **You are loved**  
 **You are loved**

 **And I will restore**  
 **All that was broken**  
 **You are loved**  
 **You are loved**

 **And just like the seasons change**  
 **Winter into spring**  
 **You're bringing new life to your family tree now**

* * *

Adam slept fitfully that night and did not wake early enough to see the sun rise. The wolves had howled, making him wish he could be out there howling too. Visions of a brown haired girl running through the castle plagued what sleep he did get. She swept just out of his reach and refused to hear his calls. When he woke, his valet was already waiting at the door for him to submit to being dressed. The tailors had done a marvelous job in creating an entire wardrobe that would fit his new shape. The ones he had worn when he was previously a beast were not suitable anymore and so they had been taken apart and used for other things while Adam had been subjected to poking and prodding for days while he was properly clothed.

Once dressed he took his breakfast in his rooms. He missed the dining room terribly, which was something he never thought he would feel. His visitors last night reminded him how much he longed for communication with others. He shook himself both mentally and physically at the memory of Marie. She had such a soft little voice and her vulnerability was so raw it was heart breaking. He tried to ignore the nagging memory of how he had ripped the scarf off her head all those weeks ago.

He sighed deeply as he vacated his stay rooms for the maids to begin their daily chores. In his head, he made plans to visit the library and give himself time to think about the events of the previous night.

But the time would not come that day. Just as he was slowly making his way to the south staircase he heard voices. Rather loud voices.

Before he could pick them out he stood up on hind legs and adjusted his cravat so that it would appear that he had not been stalking the hallways like a wild animal. Best not to give the boy, Gabriel, any more fuel to his fire.

"You must find him! I demand to speak with him!"

Adam turned himself around just in time to see Marie, Chip, Mrs. Potts, Lumiere, and Cogsworth all pouring out of the staircase. To his utter astonishment she was still in her night dress. And yet, she had managed to wrap the scarf securely around her face. Adam wondered if she slept in it. The nightgown left very little to imagine and he was again reminded that this woman needed to be fed and well. She was so thin he could see the bones in her shoulders and collar stick out of the fabric.

When she spotted him her face immediately registered fear and frustration. "Where is he?! God, what have you done with him?!"

Adam cocked his head to the side like a dog and looked at Marie with a grade of confusion. "Who?"

"My son! Gabriel! Where is he?!"

Adam assumed this was the point when hysterics set in and so he turned to Cogsworth for clarification.

"Forgive us, My Lord. We seem to have misplaced the boy, Gabriel."

"You misplaced a boy?"

" 'E must be around 'ere zomewhere." Said Lumiere, looking more than a degree flustered.

"And you assumed I had what...? Squirreled him away somewhere?"

"You must know where he is!?" This was Marie again. She gripped the front of her nightdress feverishly and looked around the corridor as if to see Gabriel hiding in a suit of armor.

"I do not. I have just vacated my rooms myself. Where would I have seen him?"

"You saw us last night! You heard what he said!"

Understanding dawned on Adam finally. He turned his head away impatiently and looked to the windows for serenity. "You think that I was so displeased with his less then respectful outburst last night that I came and took him from his bed? I whisked him away and picked his bones clean? Tossed him out to the wolves?" His voice rose of its own accord and he gave Marie such a glance of distaste that she turned towards Mrs. Potts who immediately put her hand on the younger woman for comfort.

"Didn't you?" She said, her voice full of emotion.

"I'm afraid not, Mistress." And he turned himself around with a flick of his day coat and began to make his way in the other direction, fuming.

"Mon Ami!" Lumiere called after him but it was Chip who reached out a hand and grasped Adam's arm tightly. He got in front of his master and made no indication of discomfort as he looked Adam square in the face. "Please, my friend. She is beside herself."

"So much so, it's insulting!"

"He is missing, My Lord. We need your help."

"I am not a dog you can call on to seek out lost items. Alert the staff and search the place. Idiot boy has probably hid himself in a tapestry or something."

"We did that, sire-er Your Lordship." Cogsworth stumbled over himself.

"And you found nothing?"

"He's vanished."

"Could he have left the castle?" This was Chip and Adam looked out the window as the wind began to pick up in earnest. It was going to be a bitterly cold day.

"He did say that I couldn't keep him here." Then turning back to Marie he addressed her as if she hadn't just laid a deep insult upon him. "Could he have gone somewhere? Wherever you were headed before you came here?"

"We had nowhere to go, My Lord. We had no destination when we left. He wouldn't know the way to anywhere."

Adam wracked his brain for a clue as to where they could look. "He said...He said last night something about a chest...What was he talking about?"

Marie's face went blank and she opened her mouth to speak before comprehension dawned on her. Her one visible eye closed in grief and she shook her head. "The cart! We had a small chest we left on the cart when we had to set out on foot. He has gone back for it. He seems to think there is something valuable in there. Something that will save us."

"Where is the cart, Madam?" Adam felt his heart go a little icy.

"As far back as the crossroads. Perhaps more. I don't know. It was dark and we couldn't see anything. For all I know it's buried under a blanket of snow!"

"Sir, the wolves." Cogsworth murmured and Marie again made a noise of panic and lept into action. "I must go find him, I must-"

"Madam, you cannot go out there. You will be killed!"

"He's my son! I have to go find him. He won't know how to protect himself."

She pushed aside Mrs. Pott's arm and made as if to dart down the stairs. To both their surprise it was Adam who reached out and took her arm. It was enough to stop her in her panic and she turned and looked at him in shock. In that moment something seeped inside Adam. Something old and new and he almost let her go as if she had burned him. Something that grasped at his heart and tugged as hard at it could at who he was and who he could be.

"My Lady, if you want to find your son alive you must allow me to help you."

"And why would you do that? What is he to you more then an idiot boy?"

"He is _your_ idiot boy and therefore my responsibility. Please," And with that he paused looking her deeply in the eye he could see. "Please, allow me to go and look for him. I have a much better chance of finding him before the wolves do."

"Not to mention you're much more frightening then they are."

Adam took a breath to silence a growl in his throat. "Thank you, Chip. That is _most_ helpful."

She relaxed in his grip and took a step in his direction. To his surprise his heart galloped a little faster. "You swear you will find him and bring him back alive?"

Adam put his other paw on her arm and nodded his head. "I swear on my life that I will return him to you alive and unharmed."

* * *

Easier said then done, Adam grumbled to himself as he tried to make his way through the mounds of snow that engulfed his large frame with every step he took. How in the world did that boy get past the front gates?

Adam had taken special pains to procure a shirt that Gabriel had worn the day before but had not been washed. After smelling it for a good minute he attempted to track the boy with his scent. It was a demeaning way of locating Gabriel but the quickest he could muster. It had been no surprise when his scent led directly outside the castle strait from the front gates. There it was almost lost in the wind and the snow. Adam took a huffing breath and started making his way deep into the woods. There were signs and indications that someone had been through the woods from that particular direction. The issue was the method of tracking. His beastly side would notice things long before his human side would. If he was to find the boy quickly he would have to rely on the animal in him to see the footprints in the snow long after they had been covered. For a moment he closed his eyes and imagined the beast inside him was taking a step inside his skin. He felt his powerful muscles, his nose on fire with a thousand odors, and his fur heavy on his back as it protected him from the whipping wind. Without another thought his body lurched forward in the direction he knew the boy had gone. His human mind hanging on for dear life, watching through his own eyes but only just barely in control of them.

Cutting through the woods, he took a route his human self never would have chosen and after what could have easily been hours or minutes he was inside a clearing. The snow had been kicked up and then covered again by the wind and at the corner of the space was a plain and simple cart that had been turned upside down and leaned up against a tree. The remains of a failed fire were next to it and Adam was certain his keen ears heard a whisper in the wind coming from its direction. Closing his eyes he tried to gently pry himself back into control of his body. The kinder he could be to himself, the easier he was finding it to reconcile the two sides. He slowly made his way over to the cart that was beginning to disappear under the falling snow. All four paws dug in as quietly as he could so as not to frighten the boy and when he was in touching distance of the cart he sat down on his haunches and took a deep breath.

"Gabriel?" He said as softly as his rough voice would allow.

There was a little moan from inside the cart and Adam felt a surge of alarm. What if the boy was already dead? Or almost so?

"Gabriel, are you here?"

"Go- go- go- go away!" Came the stubborn reply. Adam relaxed a little. At least the boy wasn't dead.

"Gabriel, your mother is sick with worry."

"I don't care!"

Adam gave another huff and leaned back as the cold started to seep into his legs. "If you stay out here you will die."

As if he had struck a very tender nerve the cart moved and out popped the boy's head from the underside. He was without hat or gloves and he only seemed to be wearing the light jacket he had brought with him to the castle. His lips were blue and he shook so badly with the cold that Adam was surprised he had found the child alive. "You can't make me go back to your terrible castle!"

"I don't suppose I could. However, I will try to persuade you, if I can."

"I said go away! You tricked us! Your Prince tricked us! He said we would be safe at your castle and that you would help us!"

"To be fair I-HE never said that. Chip said that. And furthermore when he said that he did not expect you to actually show up at the castle in the middle of a snow storm where you would be trapped."

"The Prince wanted us dead because we reminded him of his dead wife! She told me! He tricked us into coming here so you could eat us!"

"And if I had wanted to eat you, don't you think I would have done so when you first arrived. It hardly seems sporting to have chased you all the way out here and then devoured you when you're practically frozen."

"You can't trick me! You may have fooled... my mother but you can't fool me! I know what you are! You pretend you are some fancy lord but really you're just a, a, a monster who can talk!"

Adam felt a sting that didn't come from the biting wind. He settled further onto his haunches and looked at the boy with curiosity.

"I know that." He finally said and it seemed to be the opposite of what Gabriel had expected him to say.

"You do?"

"I am not a fool. I know what I am. But I do not mean you any harm. I never meant you any harm. I am a beast and I have no honor but...I don't wish for you to die nor for your mother to feel the pain of losing you."

"What do you care!? You aren't even... human!"

Again, Adam felt a surge of insult mixed with annoyance and the sting of regret. "No...but I...I can still hurt like one. And I would not wish that kind of pain on anyone."

Gabriel looked at Adam, half his body still underneath the cart, and something seemed to pass inside his deeply brown eyes. He sat down hard into the snow and leaned his head against the side of the cart. "I'm so tired and it's so cold." he shivered hard and closed his eyes and Adam immediately felt a rush of concern. This boy had been out in the snow, not moving, for longer then he had thought.

"Please," He murmured, inching towards Gabriel who had sunk further into the snow. "Please let me help you."

Gabriel opened his eyes again and they were starting to glass over. "Why...are...you doing...this?"

With just a touch of a smile Adam eased down next to Gabriel so that their faces were very close indeed. "I owe you a favor and am repaying it."

If the boy understood what Adam was saying he gave no sign. He only nodded his head and let it flop over a little onto his shoulder. Adam pulled his great coat off and put it over his arm. Then with the same tenderness he would have used on his baby daughters he pried the sopping wet boots off Gabriel's feet. He didn't hardly seem to notice except to whimper out something about how he couldn't feel his hands.

Adam looked the boy over once more and then without much preamble he lifted the little creature onto his lap and scooted as close to the cart as he could to block the wind from blowing over the top of them. Then with his other arm he draped his great coat over the top of them both and pulled Gabriel in as close to his body as he could without crushing him. He tucked his legs inside the coat and pressed his wet feet right into the middle of his own furry side. Then as gently as he possibly could, pulled Gabriel's face in towards the crook of his arm and began patting his arms and back, making circular motions to try and get his blood flowing faster.

"Stay awake, boy. Don't even think about sleeping."

Gabriel's eyes came in and out of focus with Adam's blue ones. He blew several hot breaths onto his frozen and blue fingers and Adam worried deeply about the smaller ones that looked almost too stiff to be fixed with some hot air. If he hadn't been feeling an overwhelming sense of panic at losing the boy he would be rather pleased with himself for being able to maneuver the child on his lap with so much delicacy. He hadn't even scratched his skin with his ridiculous claws.

After what felt like centuries Gabriel began to shiver again. He shook so hard Adam had to continue to beat the child as softly as he could manage on his chest and arms to try and get his body working again. It wasn't for the first time that Adam wished he had been turned into a fire breathing dragon instead.

And to his astonishment he found himself rocking back and forth with the child in his arms and whispering things in a way he would not have to anyone but his own children.

"You will be alright. You're going to be alright. Shhhh just hold on a little longer. Don't worry. I'll protect you... I'll keep you safe...You're safe now...You'll be alright..."

And without realizing it was happening Gabriel had wrapped his arms around Adam's middle and held on tight. There was a startling sob and Adam looked down at the boy huddled inside his great coat with him and wondered if he had hurt the child after all. Another round of cries wracked Gabriel's body and Adam was frozen with worry that there was something seriously wrong happening. The boy pressed his red face into Adam's chest and cried so hard he didn't even sound human.

Adam held him as tightly as he dared and put a protective paw on the boy's unruly dark hair. It wasn't for a good five minutes of the most heart-rending sobs that Adam finally could pick out words. "They...they told her she was...she was an abomination! They made us leave... they, they, they pushed her in the mud and I couldn't do anything about it! I am the man of the family and I just had to let them call her a witch and push her in the mud!"

"Oh" Adam said as the sad words washed over him like acid.

"I can save us! I thought I could help if I went and got the chest...but, but, but there's nothing in it but a torn up, old coat! I have to save us! It's my duty! It's my responsibility! It's my job!"

He took huge gulping breaths but the tears just continued to run down his face and Adam was again reminded how little he knew about raising boys. He didn't know much about raising girls either but...this was more heartbreaking then he would have imagined. His daughters he could fix with a kiss and a soft word. This was entirely different and he was coming up rather short on ideas.

"I hate them! I hate them! I HATE them! Why did they make us leave!? Why do they hate us!? What did I do wrong!? No one wants us! Why doesn't anyone want us!?"

He was hysterical and Adam had a strange thought that the boy looked exactly like his mother when he was in such a state. Holding Gabriel's head close to his chest Adam did his best to be gentle as he stroked his mane of brown hair. He thought hard for a moment before finally saying what he knew needed to be said.

"I want you. I want you both at my castle. Safe and sound."

"It was my duty! It's my job to protect her! No one ever protects her and it's MY job!"

Adam almost smiled at the fierce display of a boy who was so close to becoming a man.

"You've done very well, my boy. Very, very well. You did what no one else could do. I'm very..." And he paused for just a moment before blundering on. "I'm very proud of you. You're both safe now. You kept both of you safe. You did very well."

Gabriel seemed to calm at this, as if Adam had broken some sort of spell in the boy. He seemed to relax a little, though he did not untangle himself from around the furry body he was holding onto.

For ages and ages they sat there in the snow. Color returned to Gabriel's face and hands and he seemed to be better for his explosion of emotion despite the wear and tear on his soul.

Adam looked down to see the pair of brown eyes looking back up at him. He was again reminded of those same eyes looking down at him over a cliff's edge. He had thought they were the eyes of an angel at the time. He thought, perhaps, they still might be.

"It's time to get home, don't you think?"

"I don't have a home..."

Adam smiled again, despite the fact that he knew he looked ridiculous when he smiled. "You can have mine, if you would like."

"Your home is a castle."

"I am aware of that. It can be _your_ home if you'll let me give it to you."

"Do you promise?"

"Promise what?"

"Not to make us leave? I don't want to leave anymore. I know I said I did but...I don't."

Adam nodded his shaggy head. "I promise."

After some discussion and a little maneuvering, Gabriel had his soggy boots back on but the question was getting the boy back to the castle before he began to freeze again. It was a longer walk then his thin clothes would allow and Adam didn't fancy sitting in the snow anymore then he had to.

He gazed at the boy and then back out into the woods as he started to shiver against the cold wind pelting them both. With a heavy sigh that would tear down an army he again looked at Gabriel and made a humiliating decision in his head.

"Gabriel? Have you ever ridden a horse?"

Gabriel gave Adam a puzzled look and nodded.

"I can get us back to the castle very quickly but only if I am running."

"I can run."

"Not in those boots you can't."

"Are you going to leave me here?" There was a hint of panic in the boy's voice that Adam did not care for.

"Of course not. I am going to need you to trust me."

Gabriel again nodded and before Adam could stop him he ducked underneath the cart again and retrieved a very small wooden chest.

"I thought you said it just had an old coat in it."

"It does, My Lord, but..." He paused looking forlornly down at the chest in his hands. "Please, let me take it with me. I came all this way..."

Adam sighed heavily and then nodded, knowing it wasn't worth the time wasted on the argument. Retrieving a rope from the cart, Adam shook it of its snow and ice crystals. Then helping Gabriel to climb onto the top of the upturned cart he sat the boy down with his legs dangling off the side, the chest securely tucked underneath his arm. Adam then wrapped the rope around the boys back.

"Alright, Gabriel, I am going to get us home but you have to promise me two things."

"I will." Came the eager reply.

"First you must promise to hold onto me with all your might. The second is that you must remember that I would never do this if I absolutely felt there was any other way. Try not to think of me as a pack mule after this." Gabriel again looked puzzled before Adam turned himself around. He took both ends of the rope in his hands and wrapped them around his middle and then passed them back to the boy.

"You are good with knots. Tie this so that it can't come undone."

While he was doing so Gabriel spoke. "How did you know I was good at knots?"

"Lucky guess." Came the short reply. When it was done Adam took a large breath and looked over his shoulder at the boy tied to him.

"Alright now, put your arms around my neck and tuck your legs in the way you would a horse. But don't kick me in the stomach, please."

Gabriel actually gave out a laugh like musical bark. Adam almost chuckled himself at the sound of it.

When it felt like the boy was literally holding on for dear life, the wooden chest tucked between Gabriel's stomach and Adam's back in the most uncomfortable way possible, Adam slowly started to lower his front half onto the ground.

"Are you holding on tight?" he asked, unable to turn his head to look at the boy without grazing him with a horn. The only reply was a nod against his shoulder as the smaller arms around his neck tightened around his wind pipe.

Without another word Adam started off at a quick lope through the woods. He ducked past trees and attempted to keep his gate soft and smooth. The animal inside him was pushing at the back of his mind to run much much faster and Adam had to focus hard on the boy he was carrying on his back. He tried not to let the indignation of it all overwhelm him. After all, he had carried his daughters from room to room. Surely this wasn't too far of a stretch.

He slowly started to pick up the pace into a smooth run. He felt the arms clench around his neck and several times the boy gave a swift kick into his flank. He wanted to growl as his stomach turned from it but he refrained. At one point he had to make a small jump over a fallen log because he would not have been able to stop or go around without unseating the boy. To his surprise, he heard wild laughter and a whoop just behind his ears.

With the wind whipping their faces, Adam almost didn't noticed the castle gates coming into view before he was upon it. Slowing to a gentle trot, he stopped just short of the bridge where they had a devil of a time untangling themselves from the rope that tied them together. When they were free, Adam turned to get a good look at Gabril and found a bright smiling face looking back up at him. The gates swung open before anything was said and both Luis and Chip appeared.

"You found him!"

"I did and I hope you have every fire in the castle lit."

"Mother has an assortment of warm things ready for you."

"Master Gabriel, might I take that from you."

Gabriel looked at the chest in his freezing hands and shook his head. Adam laid a paw on the boy's shoulder and gave him an encouraging nod. "It's alright. He will take it right up to your rooms."

With reluctance, he handed the chest over to Luis and allowed himself to be guided by Chip towards the entry doors, looking back every step or two at Adam with an anxious face.

"What's inside it, sire?" Luis asked as they slowly walked back to the castle behind the other pair. He was going to be sore as the devil by morning and a chill had set into his bones that was most uncomfortable.

"Nothing important. Just an old coat."

"That's all? What did he go back for then?"

"I couldn't tell you. Would you be so kind as to deposit it into the West Wing before our guests have finished their meal? I would like to take a look at it personally. I need to be sure I'm not going mad."

"Is your sanity hidden in this chest too, Your Highness?"

"I couldn't tell you, Luis."


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

 **Hello, my darlings! It's been a long week and that is my excuse for the delay. I've been traveling to several different countries in the space of a week and had to leave everything for a moment. But I am back, now!**

 **First, reviews! They were, as always, awesome!**

 **Ivylou: I am so glad you enjoy this! Isn't iit wonderful when you find a story you can really sink your teeth into? I am so glad that is what this is for you**

 **SC (guest): I know EXACTLY what you mean! It makes my heart smile as well! It makes my heart smile to know it made your heart smile! And fear not! The infamous chest is coming up!**

 **TMNTAnimeDisneyLover- Yayyayyay! I am so glad you stumbled across this! Like finding a secret treasure, right? And honestly, that is a HUGE compliment that you hear the original animated voice. That means I am doing something very right. Plus, jealous! Robbie Benson's voice is the voice of an angel! Enjoy that, my friend!**

 **OKAY, onto the notes!**

 **-This chapter kills me. The next five chapters kill me. I'm dead! Luckily this one is short but packs a punch.**

 **-If it has been a while I would suggest that before you even read this to go in and review chapter 21. There is a bunch of stuff there that is brought up here. If you were reading this all at once the way you would, say, a real novel, it would be easy to remember. Unfortunately, I am selfish and want to do just one chapter at a time and so sometimes details get lost in the span of the months we have been posting this. So review and then read. And then read and review me!**

 **-I am sooo excited for you to read the next few chapters after this so if this feels like leaving a billion unanswered questions, well, it's coming! Just stick with me. And reviews help, for sure.**

 **Have such a great week!**

* * *

 **Cut-Plumb**

 **I'm not a stranger**

 **No I am yours**  
 **With crippled anger**  
 **And tears that still drip sore**

 **A fragile frame aged**  
 **With misery**  
 **And when our eyes meet**  
 **I know you see**

 **I may seem crazy**  
 **Or painfully shy**  
 **And these scars wouldn't be so hidden**  
 **If you would just look me in the eye**  
 **I feel alone here and cold here**  
 **Though I don't want to die**  
 **But the only anesthetic that makes me feel anything kills inside**

* * *

Adam did not see the reunion between mother and son but he was appraised that it was a blessed, tender event indeed. Poor Gabriel was in for the kind of coddling that made Adam uncomfortable and so he rid himself of that entire part of the castle where he knew they would be. When he had awoken that morning he had not realized that he would break as many of his self-imposed rules as he had. Allowing someone to ride on his back was the most humiliating thing he could think of and yet he had done it. Willing, to be sure.

Holding that boy on his lap while he cried had done something to his resolve to stay aloof of the small family taking residence in his castle. He felt a deep sense of responsibility and he was frustrated with himself for being unable to remain above it. If he let them affect him then they would be able to hurt him. They _had_ hurt him and he couldn't stop the pain from coming now.

Monte was waiting in the West Wing when he arrived with fresh clothing and a roaring fire. Adam sighed deeply as he submitted to having his ruined and wet clothes removed and was just barley pulling on his fresh trousers when a knock came at the door. Mrs. Potts was admitted with two maids and a full tea service ready for him. Monte finished buttoning his waistcoat and brushed his shoulders smooth before stepping back as Adam seated himself in his armchair and allowed the maids to set up a plate for him.

They were giving him the most curious looks. Like one would a mooning baby cow with round, sad little eyes that required a vast amount of attention. Much more then he did. They scuttled away when they caught him looking at them and giggled at his look of confusion. The heat of the cup warmed his paws and he turned his body away from the prying eyes as he poured several long drafts of tea into his mouth with much care to not spill it down his shirt front.

When Mrs. Potts was satisfied she shooed the maids away who continued to peek at Adam in the most peculiar way and whisper behind their hands.

"Am I missing something?"

"Only that you have managed to make yourself a proper hero once again."

"I have done nothing of the sort. I went and fetched a runaway boy from freezing to death in the woods."

"And that doesn't count as heroic to you?"

"I was the only one that could. Otherwise it would have been Chip or Luis or anyone else."

"But it was you that went and saved Gabriel. Only you. That tends to make people think of you as something of a knight in shining armor."

"Ridiculous. Both the boy and his mother believe that I have every intention of making them my dinner."

"Well, they don't believe that anymore. That boy downstairs has already asked for you three times. I would say he is quite besotted with you."

"Ridiculous!" Adam repeated again and returned to his tea.

"Can you blame him? You rescued him from being eaten by wolves and carried him on your back to safety. I'm not sure he's ever experienced anything quite so affectionate from the men in his life."

"He doesn't _have_ any men in his life. And I thought he promised not to tell you about that."

"He didn't. Luis saw you from the tower and told me. Your secret is safe with us."

"How fortunate for me." Adam deadpanned, crinkling his nose in distaste.

"Now now, no grumbling from you. These sweet people might just make a good man out of you yet."

Adam looked at her a little affronted. "Since I cannot be a man of any sort, I will have to steer clear of their influence altogether."

"Oh, I highly doubt you will manage that. You are already half in love with them and you know it."

"I know nothing of the sort." Adam glared at his tea and set it back down on the tray.

"If you say so." Mrs. Pott's smiled at him, gave a pat on the shoulder and vacated the room leaving him alone with his thoughts.

* * *

Not long into the afternoon Adam knew he was going to need to take a look at that chest. He had remained in his armchair for the better part of two hours avoiding even looking in its direction. It had been set gently on a small table in the entry room of the West Wing and no one had given it much regard in their goings and comings.

The thing was, he was certain it was a folly to open it. The boy had said its contents were nothing but a worn out coat. Why he was giving it a second thought was beyond him. He wanted to blame the animal instincts that pervaded every thought and decision that he made. Something had been scratching at the back of his mind. The memory of a scent that had suddenly been brought to the forefront. The sound of breathing, the twitch of an eyebrow. All these things set him on edge of something he was trying to remember and trying to forget at the same time.

With a groan he rose from the chair and was rewarded with sore haunches and a bruised flank. The boy had kicked him hard in the ribs and he didn't appreciate the irony of it. He turned around cautiously and made his way over to the entrance. The light spilled in from the setting sun and it illuminated the portrait of his former wife. It made every feature seem like it was glowing and on fire. As if she were some avenging angel come to bring damnation on his head. The details of her face were laughing down on him and he turned away in shame at what he had become. He was almost glad she could no longer see him. Glad that she would not have to witness how low he had sunk.

Approaching the chest he picked it up and examined it. It seemed like such a ridiculous little thing. Such a strange thing to be causing him so much stress. Again he looked at the portrait of Belle.

"Please..." he whispered, "Please, don't be what I think this is."

He gently pried the rusted chest open and it screeched in protest. Luckily for him, Gabriel had already opened it several times so it wasn't hard to have the thing on display. It was small enough to only hold one item. A bit of cloth was shoved unceremoniously into the compartment and Adam couldn't quite determine the color. It wouldn't have mattered much as he was not able to see color quite so well as a beast. It could have been brown or red. He wasn't sure. His memory told him it should be a deep red and he tried to comfort himself that this coat didn't seem to be anything he would have clothed his wife in. It was tattered and torn and an indeterminate shape. He pulled it out and held it up and realized that it had certainly been through something horrid. There was a massive tear right down the front of the lapels. He tried to examine the cut and fashion of it and then realized that he was ill-suited for that task. His sense of style was limited to what he clothed himself in. Women's fashion was not so easy to understand.

He told himself this was satisfactory. It was enough to say that it couldn't possibly have been hers. But he knew. He knew he had to check. He had to bury her. Again. Again he had to lay her in her empty grave and remind himself that she had died when he had lost his grip on the edge of a cliff.

He turned the coat over in his paws and it flopped open to reveal a torn interior. On the inside breast pocket there was slashes and evidence of wear but there had clearly been some manipulation. There was a patch, just under the left collar. Adam swallowed and again whispered.

"Please, God, Please don't...don't do this..."

Extending a claw he carefully dug into the thread on the patch of the coat and was surprised that it came free without any resistance. As if it had just been waiting for him to get it started. The thread broke away and when the patch was almost torn free something slipped from underneath and fell to the ground. The clang that came could have filled the whole world with it's echos inside his cavernous room. He would have heard it if he were dead.

Ching, ching, ching.

The sound, as it rolled and then finally came to rest, was a whisper that rang in his mind. _"She's alive, she's alive, she's alive..."_

Adam didn't feel the coat slip from his paws and onto the floor. He didn't hear the moan escape his mouth or the absolute agonizing crush as he came to rest on the cold ground. He didn't feel himself curl around the little gold ring, tucking his legs and his tail underneath himself. He didn't see the world as it spun around himself. He knew nothing but the agonizing march of the words. The words he had repeated more times then he could remember. He had said them when no one else had. When the world had long since stopped saying them, he had said them. Then, when it seemed he could go on living no longer if he continued to say them they had told him to finally admit that they weren't true. She had died. He knew this in his heart as fact. She had died and he had finally allowed himself to believe it. He had grieved and laid the ghost of her in a tomb. He had hurt and allowed her to die in his heart, taking the best parts of him with her and had moved on.

 _"She's alive, she's alive, she's alive_..." the whisper echoed again and Adam swirled around with them. He couldn't have moved from that spot if he had tried. So many times he had begged for the pain to end and to an extent it had. Not entirely free but he had avoided the decent into a darkness that would have made it impossible to return from. In that small moment, with the ring gleaming in the dying light of the day he fell head-long into the darkness and allowed it to eat him whole.


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

 **Hello once again! So glad you are here! Has anyone told you they were glad you were here today? Because I am so glad you are here!**

 **As always SC Guest: SO glad you liked this last chapter. It's more subtle then I had anticipated when I first started writing but I am very pleased you have been catching all the nuance.**

 **SO! This chapter is a little bit of a filler. I had to put some time between incidences so anticipate some really interesting stuff coming up. If the flashback feels a bit random it will all make sense in the end. I wanted some time to really feel the weight of what is happening to Adam. He is basically short circuiting. I wanted it to feel like something was really happening inside him and sometimes that takes time and a whole chapter surrounding his torrid thoughts. But I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Adeline is a beautiful character that I wish I could write a whole story about.**

 **I am having so much fun writing this and I would love to hear all about how YOU all feel about reading it. Written reviews are the true source of love in this world!**

 **Have a great week, everyone!**

* * *

 **"All I Want" Kodaline**

 **All I want is nothing more**  
 **To hear you knocking at my door**  
 **'Cause if I could see your face once more**  
 **I could die a happy man I'm sure**

 **When you said your last goodbye**  
 **I died a little bit inside**  
 **I lay in tears in bed all night**  
 **Alone without you by my side**

 **But if you loved me**  
 **Why'd you leave me?**  
 **Take my body**  
 **Take my body**  
 **All I want is,**  
 **And all I need is**  
 **To find somebody.**  
 **I'll find somebody like you.**

 **So you brought out the best of me,**  
 **A part of me I've never seen.**  
 **You took my soul and wiped it clean.**  
 **Our love was made for movie screens.**

* * *

"How is he?" Mrs. Potts whispered in a corridor where the other heads of house had met many times over the years. It was rarely used and perfect for plotting and secret-keeping.

"Ze same." Lumiere answered with gloom in his voice.

"And no one has any idea what could have possibly brought this on?"

Everyone shook their heads. Babette had her arm around Lumiere's waist and Chip leaned against the wall in contemplation.

"I don't zink 'e 'as moved from 'is chair in two days."

"He won't eat, I'll tell you that."

Cogsworth gave Mrs. Potts an incredulous look "Eat? He won't speak! He's positively catatonic!"

"What 'appened to 'im, Cogsworz?" Babette looked anxiously at the Major Domo.

"I wish I knew. He seemed alright after rescuing Gabriel and then poof! He's beside himself!"

"Do you think something happened with the boy he was not able to tell us?"

"Or something they brought back with them?"

"Like that chest the boy had." Luis interjected as if he had been a part of the conversation the entire time.

The entire group fell silent and looked back at Luis. "What chest?" Cogsworth asked with a measure of control in his voice.

"The...the one the boy went back for. The reason he ran off. He brought back a small chest with him and His Highness asked me to take it up to his rooms before returning it to Master Gabriel."

Again no one spoke, only this time there were several mouths hanging open in surprise.

As if trying to hold back an explosion, Cogsworth gave Luis an apocalyptic expression. "And you didn't think to tell us this...two days ago!"

"Well..I..."

"What was in it?" Chip asked eagerly. Now that it was being mentioned he did vaguely remember the boy carrying something on Adam's back.

Luis shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't open it. The Master said he wanted to examine its contents before returning it himself."

"Something has happened. Something that has made him this way." Mrs. Potts said with a hand to heart. "I have never seen him like this before."

"Yes, you have." Cogsworth murmured darkly.

"When?"

"After the first spell. When that horrid enchantress finished her nasty business. His Highness laid bloody and broken in his room for days. And when he finally snapped out of it...All hell broke loose."

There was silence for a moment as everyone remembered exactly what Cogsworth was talking about.

"I think this time is different." Chip put in with a thoughtful expression.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because this time...we're not waiting for some girl to show up and rescue us." He gave a coy little smile as only Chip could. "She's already here."

* * *

Adam could not have told you want day it was. Nor the hour or the room he was in or what his own name was. He couldn't have told you anything. He was lost somewhere. His mind was a hurricane of thoughts and feelings so powerful he had become numb to them. The sun had risen and set so many times he was sure he had drifted into some other world where there was no meaning to the march of the hour. He wasn't sure how he had gotten to his chair or how the ring now lay inside his breast pocket. He wanted to hold it. To examine it and tell himself it looked nothing like the ring he had given her on their wedding day. But he couldn't feel anything. It would seem that everything that made him soft and good inside had fled and left nothing but a hard stone shell in its place.

But in his current state of mind, it would seem he had occasion to dream. Why the same thoughts kept coming to his head, he couldn't tell you. Only that, it would seem, the horror and pain of what he had found had to be passed through, before it could be passed on.

 _Once, a long time ago. He had been twenty-four. He remembered how his birthday had come and gone and no one had celebrated because the search for the Princess was still continuing forth as if she had only gone missing the day before. Two years he had searched for her. Two long years he had agonized over the hope that they would find her. They had found the broken carriage and several bodies of servants who had gone down with her, but never her. They had never been able to find her body or any sign that she had existed. This alone kept Adam in a constant state of frenzy._

 _It was a few days after his missed twenty-fourth birthday that his Heads of House had found him in the cartography room. He had been pouring over a map of the river that had taken his beloved wife. It was there that Cogsworth, Lumiere, and Mrs. Potts had told him, in their bravest voices that it was time. It was time for him to say the words that would end his suffering. If only to give him some way to come back to them and be their Prince again._

 _The anger that had erupted from him that day had been reminiscent of his time as a beast. He threw himself into it like a man running toward a burning building. He had torn maps and books off the shelves, smashed every chair and heaved a desk so hard against the wall that it had ripped itself asunder as if made of ash. In that whole time he had not admitted it. His fingers broken with large cuts across his hands and arms, they had bandaged him up and allowed him to finally come to terms with his grief. What could have been days afterwards he had found himself wandering the library, believing that if he just looked around one more stack of books he would see her peeking out through the shelves at him. He never did find her. What he did find was a cold rear end from sitting on the floor and sore painful fingers that couldn't lift a page. That was where another_ _ **she**_ _had found him._

 _She came around the corner and was so startled to see the Prince just sitting on the floor with a pile of books in his bandaged hands that all she could do was stop and stare._

 _"Forgive me, your Highness!" She gave a startled bow._

 _Adam gazed at her as if finally finding recognition in a world he no longer understood._

 _"It's you." he murmured and set his books down to reveal bloody bandages with reopened wounds underneath._

 _"Oh, Your Highness! Your hands! Allow me to call your man!" The woman turned to go and Adam reached out for her. "I know you..."_

 _She stopped and turned back to him and nodded her head. "Yes, sire. They call me Adeline. I was the princess's abigail."_

 _Adam swallowed and nodded as if he now remembered. "What do you do now?"_

 _She paused as if unsure of what to say. "I am not currently enjoying an occupation, My Prince."_

 _He looked down at the floor and then back up with her. "You could sit with me. That could be an occupation, if you wish."_

 _Without questioning it, the young woman gently arranged her skirts and sat down next to Adam on the floor of the library. He looked around himself in confusion and then back at her. "I was trying to read a book...but I seem to have done something to my hands. She used to read to me...every day..." He glared a little at himself. "I can read to myself, I don't need her to do it... I just..."_

 _Adeline calmly took a book from his stack and nodded her head. "I understand, Your Highness."_

 _"There doesn't seem to be anyone left who does..."_

 _"I am here...and I do." Came her soft and kind reply. And so, there on the floor, Adeline read to the Prince from every book he requested. She read until her voice was horse and the floor brought a chill into her bones. Sometime, as the night was waning away he interrupted her._

 _"What is she like?"_

 _"Who, My Prince?"_

 _"Belle." He murmured reverently._

 _"I think you would know much more then I would, Your Highness."_

 _"Would I? I think I am forgetting her."_

 _That was the saddest thing that Adeline had ever heard and she put on a brave smile before continuing. "She was the most wonderful person I have ever known. She was graceful and sincere. Always honest and compassionate at the same time. I would have liked to have been more like her."_

 _Adeline had gone into a reverie and had not noticed the expression on the Prince's face as she described his beautiful wife._

 _"Was?"_

 _Adeline stopped realizing her folly and looked at him in despair. She had only vaguely heard of the incident in the cartography room and did not know the extent of the Prince's pain._

 _"Sire, I did not mean-"_

 _"Because it is a_ _ **was**_ _, isn't it?"_

 _"I-"_

 _"Because...my wife...is dead..." It all came out in a hushed whisper and to Adeline's sorrow she watched as several tears streamed down Adam's face._

 _"Belle died that night. She is dead, she is dead, she is dead..." He murmured in a solemn voice. He didn't crumple or fall apart but in his heart he knew he had said something he would never be able to take back._

 _Adeline held his hand that night as he repeated those words more times then either of them could count. She had stayed with him until he could finally manage to put one foot in front of the other without slipping back into the darkness where Belle could possibly still be alive. She was kind to him and never flinched when he forced himself to say the words over and over again._

It was so strange to Adam that in this time when the world had turned upside down he would think of that lovely girl in the library and what she had done for him. How she had stayed. That was the first time he had been able to admit it. Made himself believe that the words were true.

And yet...here was Adam. He sat in a chair in the West Wing with a ring in his breast pocket that told him the truth. Told him that if he had just searched a little longer, waited and looked a little harder he would have found her. That the words he had spoken in the library were a lie and that the truth had been hiding from him in plain sight. And he could not bare it. He could not bare the loss and the pain of it. He didn't feel he deserved for it to pass on because...he couldn't bear to pass through it. And so he sat without moving and dreamed of long ago dreams.


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

 **Oh, my dears! This is a beautiful day to post a new chapter!**

 **SC Guest: I honestly am so glad you review every time. I have no idea if anyone is reading this or if it was really foolish of me to write it in the first place and when you review, even when you are the only one, I want to keep posting. You are keeping it going and it makes me so happy!**

 **Alright! So I have to say this has easily been my favorite chapter to write. I love it and have been looking forward for you all to read it since I started posting. It pulls a lot of inspiration from Beauty by Robin McKinley, the original movie (obviously), and even some from The Scarlet Pimpernel. Adam has quite a Percy Blakney persona about him, doesn't he? Also, is anyone else getting a Jamie Fraser from Outlander vibe? Do I just watch too much television? Maybe!**

 **If you are unsure what a bordello is it was the closest word I could find for "brothel" or "whore house" that followed a french tradition. I wish I was more up to date on my linguistics. This will have to do.**

 **All in all, I am** **very pleased with this and I think this chapter is probably one of the biggest turning points in the story. Pretty much every chapter here on out is filled with so much awesome stuff that I am just bursting for you to read them all.**

 **If you think perhaps to write reviews on important chapters, THIS would be a good one to do so! Hopefully I did the characters justice in such a pivotal moment and that it meets your expectations. I made a lot of choices in this chapter for very beloved characters and I hope you feel I have treated them well. I do understand how precious they are to you. They are also precious to me. Review and let me know.**

 **Hope you have such a great week and I hope this makes it even better**

* * *

 **Samson- Regina Spektor (SO sorry for the stupid spaces between the lyrics. is confusing and I don't know how to get it to stop doing that. It's such a great song and worked so well with the chapter I couldn't cut it down anymore then I did.)**

 **You are my sweetest downfall**

 **I loved you first, I loved you first**

 **Beneath the stars came fallin' on our heads**

 **But they're just old light, they're just old light**

 **Your hair was long when we first met**

 **Samson came to my bed**

 **Told me that my hair was red**

 **Told me I was beautiful and came into my bed**

 **Oh I cut his hair myself one night**

 **A pair of dull scissors in the yellow light**

 **And he told that I'd done alright**

 **And kissed me 'til the mornin' light, the mornin' light**

 **And kissed me 'til the mornin' light**

 **Samson went back to bed**

 **Not much hair left on his head**

 **Ate a slice of wonderbread and went right back to bed**

 **Oh we couldn't bring the columns down**

 **Yeah we couldn't destroy a single one**

 **And history books forgot about us**

 **And the bible didn't mention us, not even once**

 **You are my sweetest downfall**

 **I loved you first.**

* * *

Something was calling Adam out of whatever place he had been dwelling. He wanted to ignore it but the Beast in him was bored and his ears perked up at the sound of a familiar voice.

"Mistress Marie wishes to speak with you." He heard from far away. He tried to pinpoint the voice and was having difficulty remembering if he knew the person speaking or not.

Mistress Marie? Mistress Marie...Marie, Marie, Marie...

Suddenly it all came back to him in a snap and he turned his neck to look at the retreating backs of Cogsworth and Lumiere. The effect of moving his head after not having moved at all was like bending a tree trunk and hoping it won't break in half.

"What did you say?" He murmured in a voice so horse it could hardly be recognized as a voice. The two men stopped and turned to look at Adam in surprise. Apparently they had not expected him to respond to their message.

"Mistress Marie wishes to speak with you." Cogsworth repeated slowly. They were both looking at him as one would a tiger preparing to pounce.

"Why is she called that?" He whispered,

His Heads of House turned and looked at each other. "Perhaps because it is 'er name." Lumiere replied.

"It's not..." Adam murmured to himself and turned to look out the window again.

They both looked confused before Cogsworth took a step in Adam's direction. "Adam?"

"Are they alright?" Adam said distractedly.

"Zey are anxious to see you. You created quite a stir wiz your daring rescue."

"You don't under...understand...I can't. Not yet...yet...I..."

Adam struggled with his words and closed his big blue eyes as if to shut them out again. Lumiere circled the chair and stood in front of Adam. The expression on his face mirroring exactly how he had looked when Adam had asked him to use the pistol after the spell took effect.

"Mon Ami, what 'as 'appened? Cannot you tell us?"

Adam looked at his advisers and shook his head. "I cannot. I cannot say it yet. Please..."

"Very well, Master." Cogsworth gave a sigh. "What shall I tell our guests? Mistress Marie and her son ask after you every day."

There was a sigh that would have brought down heaven. "She truly wishes to see me?"

Lumiere nodded, a touch of interest in his gaze. "Oui, My Prince."

Adam would not have been able to deny this particular woman anything in any lifetime they were living and so he nodded. "Very well. She may come during..." And with that Adam looked around as if he could not tell what time of day it was.

"Evening Tea?" Cogsworth suggested.

"Evening Tea." Came the reply.

* * *

If Marie had been nervous to speak with His Lordship before, it was nothing compared to how she felt now. She tried to see past all the fanfare and eloquence of the castle and think of this encounter as just like any other with any other individual.

She knew it was folly, though. He was not like any other individual. Could he even be described as an individual?

When she was led into the sitting room of the West Wing she shivered. Something about this strange place was so familiar to her. As if she had seen it before in a dream. The whole idea of deja vu made her impatient and yet she couldn't shake it. She couldn't shake the feeling that she was entering into something real for the first time in her life and everything before that had been the dream.

The light was brighter here then her last encounter and she was not prepared to see His Lordship in full view again since she last saw him two days prior. He stood demurely as if he had learned his etiquette from the finest tutors in Europe.

She was surprised to realize that she was studying him. He towered over the tea service like a mountain and she found it hard to enter that shadow and take her seat. The footman that was in attendance was holding her chair expectantly and all she could do was stare.

More startling was that she realized that he was staring right back. His eyes, the color of Lapis lazuli, were transfixed on her and something tingled in the back of her mind. Where had she seen that color before?

To her surprise it was he that broke eye contact first. He looked down and an emotion flashed across his alien features that Marie knew all too well.

Pain.

Something in her gaze had pained him and thus he had looked away. "Would you care to join me, my dear Madam?"

Marie was flabbergasted. He had refereed to her as "My dear" as if they were so familial that they could be considered friends. Without being able to say anything she made her way to sit at the small table and to her dismay tripped on the borrowed dress she was wearing. It was at least three sizes too big for her and so finely made that just a brush with something sharp would tear it to pieces. She corrected herself in time to see His Lordship look rather concerned at her clumsiness.

When he had decided that she was quite alright he resumed his seat as well and allowed Lumiere to set up the tea for them both. She tried to go through all the requirements of refinement but she just felt silly. She was no grand lady. She was nothing more then a common washer woman. She wanted to say so but nothing in her life had prepared her for having a conversation with an individual that looked the way His Lordship did.

Before she was able to start some sort of dialogue and give reason for why she had requested an audience he cut in first.

"Are you well?"

His eyes held so much concern that for a moment she was breathless. "I am, My Lord. We are both very well, thanks to you."

He waved her thanks away impatiently as if it were an obnoxious fly. "Have you found comfort here?"

"What do you mean?"

"Food? Clothing? Warmth? Are you being provided for?"

"Of course, sir. We have been very well cared for."

He gazed in her direction for so long that she began to feel uncomfortable. She took a sip of tea and was again reminded of how different her circumstances were here in this castle then she could ever remember. And at that thought she chuckled a little bit.

Adam was taken aback at the odd sound the woman in front of him made. He had no memory of her ever chortling like that before. It was both deprecating and humorous at the same time.

"What is it?" he asked cautiously.

"It doesn't seem real to me."

"What doesn't?"

"Sitting here with you. Wearing clothing that cost more then anything I have ever owned, inside the Prince's summer palace, drinking tea, with...a character from a fairy story."

Adam cocked his head to the side. "You think I am from a fairy story?"

"I'm not entirely sure you are real at all, My Lord. I don't believe in magic or hokum and yet..."

"Here I sit."

"Indeed. I keep trying to get my bearings and I can't seem to grasp it. Something about this place...something about you..."

Adam saw the thin ice he was treading on and took a step of faith anyway. He needed to know. "Have you never seen anything...like me...before?"

"Are there other's like you, My Lord? I had come to assume you were some magical guardian brought up from the Underworld for unknown purposes."

Adam was both shocked and amused at her assessment. "You are acquainted with your Greek mythology, at least."

"I assume I am. Though I do not remember where I could have learned it."

"Don't you?" He asked, feigning innocent curiosity.

She put down her head, as if to guard him from something. "I'm afraid I don't, sir."

He instantly felt ashamed and looked down as well. "Forgive me. I do not mean to pry into your privacy."

"I suppose it is only fair as I have now barged into your...lair? Twice, to be sure."

Adam looked about the West Wing thoughtfully. "You think it looks like a lair?"

"What do you call a room that you, personally, would stay in?"

He shifted in his seat and looked at her uncomfortably. "A gentleman's quarters."

She ducked a smile and then looked again at him through her scarf. "Well, they suit you."

He was sure she had wanted to say something else. "You are welcome here any time. I meant what I said to Gabriel. This can be your home now. Barge in all you like."

"It seems a trifle grand for us, don't you think?"

"I suppose that would depend on you. In my experience we are as grand as we allow ourselves to be."

"The wine we drank at dinner cost more then my entire house in the village. I doubt it had anything to do with allowance and everything with opportunity."

"Can this be your opportunity?"

"An opportunity like this is for princesses. Not strange girls from small villages."

"You can't believe that."

"It's alright, really. Even if I could remember who I was, I am sure it wasn't so different as anyone else. The truth is, I am not sad for myself as I am for Gabriel. He has such dreams. I think I want them for him even more then he wants them for himself. I have always wondered where he got that spark for life from. If I would ask anything of you it would be for him, not myself."

A thick silence settled in and Adam did his best not to shout at her the truths that sat in plain sight. "Forgive my boldness, Mistress, but you have more of that spark for life then anyone I have ever met. I believe he gets it from you. I cannot imagine what you have been through but you must know you are worth more then just being a 'strange girl from a small village'."

Marie had no notion of what to say this. It was so beyond what she thought he was going to say that she was stunned into silence. "I am sure if I could remember my childhood I would have a better idea how to answer that." She finally said softly before taking another sip of tea. It had gone cold and it made her sad.

"What do you recall?"

Marie looked at him again as if he had been impertinent but nodded her head, deciding that it was necessary to open up a bit. "I recall...my son. Something...happened to me... a long time ago. A woman in the village said it was the judgments of God... I guess I believe her. I don't know where I come from or who I am. I don't know why I..." She paused as if swallowing the last of her pride. "look like this..." Her fingers trailed the edge of the scarf covering her face. "I only remember my son. They brought him to me and he was so fat and beautiful and they said he was a miracle but I never knew why or how. I didn't know where I was or who I was but I knew that I loved him. He kept me alive when I don't think I should have been."

"Who are _they_?"

Marie caught her breath and she looked down at her plate and gave a small sigh that was laced with shame and discomfort that Adam almost retracted his words.

"The women in my village. They called me..."

"A witch." Adam finished for her. It tasted bitter on his tongue.

She looked to her left and nodded. She shrugged her shoulders but it wasn't a natural gesture. There was a practiced air to it. As if she refused to let anyone see her loneliness. She quirked her visible eyebrow in a slight smirk and looked at him as if they shared a secret. "Perhaps in some ways that would have been easier."

He tried to catch his breath at the way she was looking at him and tilted his own head in response. "Easier to be a witch?"

"Indeed. A witch carries a level of anonymity. No one comes near you if you play your cards right."

"Until they burn her." Adam responded matter-of-factly.

Marie gave a small chuckle. "Ah, yes, well, that is the risk. At least in my situation they only threw us out of town. Burning may have kept us warm…but only for a few moments."

Adam realized this was supposed to be playful banter but he couldn't help himself. He couldn't stop himself from gleaning every piece of information out of her that he could. "What was your situation aside from being rumored as the village witch?"

She put her cup down and the corners of her mouth immediately turned back down into a look of displeasure. She shrugged a little as if to try and keep the situation lighter but couldn't manage it. "Perhaps I should have told you when we first arrived but it seemed such a horrid thing to announce to someone I have just met."

"Told me what?"

"About my reputation in the village. They all knew, somehow. And I suppose you would have found out soon enough."

"What do you mean?"

She took a calming breath and then continued with her head up. "I cannot tell you how or why...but my son was born in a...bordello... I have no husband that I know about and the evidence...is glaringly obvious. When they told me where I was I would have left right away but I could not seem to walk...I had been hurt...somehow...I stayed there until the old washer woman came for me. The women there...were kind. I assume I was once one of them."

Adam leaned back in his chair and sagged a little. His beautiful wife...his bride...giving birth in a bordello? His thoughts traced the open wound of that confession. He looked at her with his baleful blue eyes and was only slightly surprised to see her sitting up strait and looking at him with an open face and just a hint of pride on her features. As if she would walk through a crowd of whispering gossip-mongers and refuse to take their bait. He knew this look on her and he couldn't help but feel terribly proud of her.

"The women who lived there...they called me Marie. Your Master Christoph thought it was for the Holy Mother. It was not..."

Understanding looked back at her from Adam's face. "It was the Madeliene..."

She nodded as if the whole idea were both curious and wearying to her. "I did not want to lie to you after you had been so kind. I cannot even give you my real name so the least I can do is give you the truth."

"My lady...You have nothing to be ashamed of here. I am not your judge and this is not a prison."

"I can see that now. I am a little out of place here, regardless. Perhaps if I can find a way to discover who I was then I might be able to leave some of the ugly truth behind. If not for me, then at least for Gabriel."

Something tingled at the edge of his mind, something that he knew he needed to ask before he could not bring himself to speak any longer.

"How old is your son?"

She looked up at him a little apprehensively. "Twelve, My Lord."

Adam quickly did the math in his head and then turned his face away again. So then...Gabriel was not _his_ son... He was too young. His child with her would have been nearing fourteen. And with the revelation about the bordello he could not ask for more details without revealing things he should not know.

His stomach churned while a thousand questions swirled in his mind. Not for the first time he desperately wanted to know what had happened to his baby. His arms ached as if he was reliving it all over again and someone was tearing his child away from him. Without realizing it, Adam made a soft sound and put a paw to his mouth to hide the tremble.

Marie shifted in her seat as if to make her excuses "I beg your forgiveness, My Lord. I would not have troubled you with such tales if I had thought..."

"Who are your parents?" He asked in a rush, desperately trying to make her stay.

"I beg your pardon, sir?"

"Who are your parents? Do you remember anything from your childhood?"

She continued to look at him in confusion and he felt like a boy being scrutinized by a firm headmaster.

"I am not sure…..I assumed that….if I was found in a bordello I might not have any. I've always wished maybe they would find me and tell me that it was all a mistake but…they never did."

"Surely you came from somewhere? You don't remember anything?"

"I remember...a little... I remember a short man with white hair and a mustache smiling at me...I remember animals and homes...little girls running in fields and hearth fires with tea and biscuits...it must have been very nice. But I just cannot remember it."

The words washed over Adam like a balm. There was something there! Her father, the homes she had lived in. They were there inside her! She could describe them. Perhaps he was still in there too!

Marie sat nervously looking at Adam. When he finally realized how uncomfortable she was, he gestured to her tea. "Please...stay a little longer...If you would like." He finished lamely and waited for her to resume her plate. She looked to the door as if she would escape, and then bit her lip a little, in the corner, and finally refreshed her cup.

"Are you angry now that you have given us sanctuary?" She finally said twisting her fingers underneath the table.

Adam looked at his paws before looking back up at her. "Madam, I am a beast. I am the last creature on this earth to judge you for your past. You have no need to be ashamed when it comes to me."

"Even though you are the master of this castle?"

He gave her a curious look "Hmmm...those titles always seem to come and go at will. I wouldn't put too much stock into them."

"Until the Prince came into my home, the very thought of those with titles were something you heard about but never really encountered."

Adam leaned back in his chair, glad that the conversation was finally taking a lighter turn. "Does it matter more to you that he was a Prince or that he reacted like a mad-man?"

"Both!" She said and actually chuckled again. "In the world were I came from it was foolish to wish for something you had no right to. Or at least, that's what the women of the village told my son when he said he wanted to be a knight."

Adam almost smiled at the idea. "Do you think I am foolish? A beast that has command over His Highness's entire summer palace?"

"It does seem rather odd." And there was a distinct smile in her voice.

"If you only knew..."

"I would like to."

Adam looked at her in surprise."You would?"

"I would. If you would allow me, Your Lordship."

"Even though I am a terrible, man-eating, monster?" He asked ruefully.

She looked aghast at him and then down at her hands. "Please, forgive me."

"I do." He responded without hesitation. "My lady, this is your home. At least for now. I do not wish for you to be afraid of me."

"I'm not. I don't think I ever was. I am more afraid of what you might think of me. In comparison to the kinds of guests who should be staying in a place like this."

"If you would allow me, Madam, I would be honored to show you my good faith."

"Such honor for someone who doesn't even know her real name?"

"Perhaps I can help you to remember it."

She paused and took a deep breath as if this was all becoming too much for her. "Why are you doing this, My Lord?"

Adam again, almost smiled at the irony. "Once upon a time, a young woman came to this castle and helped me to remember who I was. It is high time I returned the favor."

Marie ducked her head as if the whole idea amused her, "She sounds like another character from your fairy story life. A young woman who comes and tames a mythical beast."

"Well, Madam, you are becoming part of that story. Whether you like it or not."

"Marie."

Adam paused while she continued. "Marie. It's not my real name but...I would like you to call me Marie. If only to make it sound like we are now friends."

And Adam had to turn his head to hide his smile. "You can call me Beast if you like."

She actually had the audacity to wrinkle her nose. "To your face? As I would call my farm dog 'dog'? And then slap my leg to get him to come?"

Adam looked affronted at her. "I would hope you wouldn't put it _that_ way..."

"You don't have a real name?"

"You and I have more in common then you think."

She sighed as if to bare a great burden. "Alright then, Beast it is."

Adam voice was rueful laced with sarcasm. "How gracious of you."

It must have sounded more obscure then he intended because to his amazement she laughed. Not a loud laugh or a long one, but a laugh. And it sounded identical to every laugh he had ever heard from her. He wondered how he could have ever doubted it was her from the moment he met her. This was HER and he had almost missed it.

He smiled again at the revelation but it was such a sad smile that she stopped and set her tea cup down. "The hour is much later then I thought. I should go to Gabriel. He will be dying to know what you said."

"About what?"

She waved her hand. "Oh, anything. Any words that come from your direction are God's law now."

"Strange boy."

"It's not every day that you're rescued by a magical beast. Let him cherish it."

"I will. Perhaps we can have a discussion tomorrow."

She nodded and then looked him in the eyes once more. "Would you join us for dinner tomorrow? We both feel so misplaced in your large dining hall. It's all a bit much for us."

Adam's eyes danced with amusement. "Are you inviting me to dinner in my own home?"

"I believe I am."

"Then I accept."

She smiled again. It was as if she wasn't used to the sensation and the scarf made it a bit lopsided. She rose from her seat and he rose with her and watched as Lumiere gave him a baffled backwards glance and led her out of the sitting room. Once he had resumed his seat, he continued to do so after the footman had vacated.

Like a man possessed he reached over and picked up her cold tea cup and pressed it to his beastly lips and would have sobbed if he had had any tears to cry.

"Belle." he whispered through the emotion. "Your name is Belle."


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

 **Guys...GUYS! Those reviews I got for the last chapter are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I have been pouring over them for a week and a half now! I am SOOOOO sorry that I am behind in posting. To make it up to you I am posting TWO chapters in a row. To be fair, they kind of need to go together anyways and they used to be one chapter and got split in half...but still!**

 **And also, HAPPY THANKSGIVING to anyone on here who is American and celebrates Thanksgiving. I am very far away from home and family this holiday season and I send all my love and well-wishes to you and yours.**

 **To the Guest who asked when I am going to update: THANK YOU for jarring me back into posting! Here you go, kind human!**

 **Writeyourdreamstheywillcome: OMG I love everything you wrote. Honestly, it made me go back in and comb through some chapters and make some revisions. The chapters you will read versus what they are now will be so much better for your reviews! I wish you could see the process. As far as your observations on Adam, I have this character who is always kind of lost. He barely knows which way is up on a good day. So to have his whole world thrown on it's head, I wanted to paint him on both sides of the coin. Total shock and and inability to even lift his head up. And then flipping it back in the other direction where he still doesn't quite believe it and has to play it cool. The next few chapters, I hope will show that other side you were looking for. The Adam that is neither shocked or reserved but is just plain falling apart. The one that can't barely keep the tears away. And I hope it also explains a lot of his motivations on why he is choosing to do what he does.**

 **To the other guest: My emotions too! Holy cow this story is a roller coaster. And so glad I have another "Samson" lover out there.**

 **SCGuest: I am chuffed to bits you got my references about The Scarlet Pimpernel and Outlander. It fills my heart with joy. And don't worry. Its all going to come out soon.**

 **Okay, about these chapters. One of the reasons it took me so long to post this was that I have been constantly revising them. I wanted to have that emotional reaction you were looking for without blending into the melodramatic. I also wanted to leave enough breadcrumbs for other chapters to come and I also wanted to give a twist in the story. All of these things were risks and I'm not sure, even now, if I've gotten it entirely right. However, these chapters do lead into some GREAT chapters in the coming weeks. Ones that will melt your heart.**

 **So please, read and review because it is only going to make future chapters better. I want ALL of your expert opinions! Enjoy Enjoy Enjoy and I will post again VERY soon!**

* * *

 **"Photograph" Ed Sheeran**

 **Loving can heal** **  
** **Loving can mend your soul** **  
** **And it's the only thing that I know (know)** **  
** **I swear it will get easier** **  
** **Remember that with every piece of ya** **  
** **And it's the only thing we take with us when we die**

 **So you can keep me**

 **Inside the pocket** **  
** **Of your ripped jeans** **  
** **Holdin' me closer** **  
** **'Til our eyes meet** **  
** **You won't ever be alone**

 **And if you hurt me**

 **That's OK, baby, only words bleed** **  
** **Inside these pages you just hold me** **  
** **And I won't ever let you go** **  
** **Wait for me to come home**

* * *

Dinner was decidedly awkward.

It took two tries for the footman to assemble themselves together and drag in a chair that Adam could sit in. The entire staff was uneasy about how to act around him. Terrified that they would slip up in front of their guests.

Adam, himself, was still not quite reacquainted with navigating the dainty tools he needed to use to feed himself. He ate so very slowly and deliberately that both Marie and Gabriel seemed to think that was the way nobles ate and so they also ate very slowly and carefully. The maids periodically erupted into fits of giggles and would have to leave the dining room.

When Adam was tired of spooning the soup into his large maw he laid it down carefully and used his serviette to hide the soup in his whiskers. Gabriel smiled and imitated Adam as one would expect a small child to do. He seemed almost desperate for Adam to approve of his behaviors. When the meal started to wane on and very little conversation had passed, Adam settled down into his chair and gazed at the pair across the table from him.

He sighed deeply and really studied them. Gabriel looked so much like Belle that it stabbed his heart. He was again reminded of the brown eyes looking down at him from the cliff's edge. How they had reminded him of an angel with his rich dark hair and long slender fingers. But he had a massive nose, Adam mused. And a large jawline with broad shoulders. His father must have been an interesting looking fellow, indeed.

"Cogsworth?" He spoke aloud, though he had barely been aware that he was going to.

His Major Domo stepped forward immediately. "Yes, sir?"

"Who are the tailors in residence?"

Cogsworth thought for a moment. "Josephine and Claude."

"Hm.." Adam said rubbing his jaw. "Inform them that they need to assemble a new wardrobe for our guests. Use what cloth you can find in the attics and perhaps take apart a few of the old gowns we gave to Madam Marie."

"Very good, sir." Cogsworth said and then walked out the door with purpose.

Both Gabriel and Marie sat with their mouths open and looked at Adam. "But...My Lord.."

"Beast. We agreed you would call me that. Without patting your leg, of course."

Marie shut her mouth and gulped. "Beast, you don't need to do that. We could not accept such a gift."

"Tell me, are you comfortable tripping in that gown? It could fit three of you."

Referring to how a woman's gown fits was entirely uncivil and Mrs. Potts noticed. Years of caring for her royal charge had given her the bravery to say as she wished to Adam.

"Young man!" She whispered sternly in his direction.

Adam turned to look at her, not having been called that by her in years and years. "I am not a man. As we have clearly established."

"That is no excuse for bad manners."

Adam grumbled. "Very well." Then to Marie "Forgive me. If you would like to refuse a new wardrobe you have every right but it would be a great honor to me if you would accept it."

Marie didn't seem to know what to say to that and so she nodded.

"Will I get a new pair of riding boots?" Gabriel asked excitedly.

"You will." Adam responded, pleased at Gabriel's enthusiasm. "And a new riding cloak if you would like. You have an affinity for horses?"

Gabriel nodded vigorously. "We couldn't afford them at the Washer Woman's home but the other lads in the village all had one and I wanted to learn so badly. Sometimes they would allow me to come along."

Adam nodded and smiled at the boy. "That should work out quite nicely. Chip?"

At that last word he turned and looked to his Master of the Hunt. "Yes, sir?" Chip asked without irony.

"Have you been listening?"

"Intently, M'Lord."

"You can start tomorrow with the horses left in the stables. Only the old nags left, I'm certain."

"Indeed, sir. The Princess took her Bays with her and the rest went with the party to Paris."

"That's alright. Old nags are good for learning and when the spring comes we can see what the village has to offer by way of a foal."

Marie sat back in her seat as Gabriel almost exploded with happiness. "I get to be your apprentice?!" Chip smiled down at the boy and ruffled his brown hair. "Not quite, but I'll get you into the basics and you'll help me with a few of my duties. More of a partnership than anything."

Gabriel started a string of chatter that pinned Chip to the spot while Marie looked at Adam so gravely that he had to pause.

"You are displeased." It was a statement and not a question.

"These gifts are so extravagant. I don't deserve them."

Adam shifted in his seat and gave her a grave look in kind. "Let's set aside our disagreement on that matter. First, you are my guest. I don't take that lightly. It is not often that I find anyone who can stand my company. I would not be a good host if I was not willing to provide for my guests. Second, when have you ever, in your memory, been given the kinds of gifts you deserve?"

Her cheeks colored and she looked at her worn hands. "We were not so bad off as some..."

He was so tempted to reach for her hand. So desperate for contact with her that he had to hold one paw in the other and squeeze himself into submission. "Please, Marie, allow me to do this for you."

She looked as if she would start to cry once more and he fumbled to change the subject. "What was your washer woman like? I've never heard you call her anything but that. Did she have a real name?"

Marie made an attempt to compose herself and then looked back up at Adam. "She was kind. She took me in when I had nowhere else to go. She had the most beautiful rose garden of anyone I had ever met. Everywhere we went she seemed to have roses springing up everywhere. It was like magic."

"A rose garden?" Adam mused.

"Yes, she loved them. She worked in that garden more then she washed. It was something of a village joke."

"That," Gabriel interjected loudly. "And the fact that she was very scary!"

"Gabriel, that is rude!" Marie scolded her son.

"She was! She was so gnarled and wrinkly she looked like a tree. And she had these huge green eyes with no blacks in the middle! And she had a mirror room! She would just sit in her room and look at her mirrors all day long. The villagers said that she was looking into-"

Marie took a note out of Mrs. Potts' book and grabbed Gabriel's arm with a very stern "Young man!"

While she was busy expelling the virtues of silence to her son, Adam had gone very still. He could have been dead if one didn't know better. He didn't blink or breathe or shift a single hair on his body.

Roses, gnarled and wrinkly, green eyes, no pupils...mirrors...magic...

The puzzle pieces clicked together perfectly and as soon as they did in Adam's mind he rose from his seat so swiftly and silently that Marie and Gabriel didn't notice until the entire staff had become ridged with attention. He was out the door in just enough time for his guests to rise to their feet in confusion.

Gabriel looked at his mother and the staff with an expression of displeasure. "Why did he leave?"

Marie was just as shocked but decided it was as good an opportunity as any. "Perhaps, because some young men don't know when to stop talking!"

"It's not like he knew her..."

* * *

Before Cogsworth, Lumiere, and Mrs. Potts had made their way to the West Wing, Adam had already destroyed three chairs, two end tables and had hurled several vases of hot house flowers out the window and over the balcony.

If they could have stopped him they might have, but no one was foolhardy enough to go near any of those claws and so they watched as he allowed the full force of his beastly side to come out.

A roar erupted out him and left him breathless afterwards.

Cogsworth stiffened and whispered, far too loudly, to Lumiere. "Do you think Mistress Marie and her son heard that?"

The former candlestick looked at his comrade incredulously. "What do you zink?"

When there didn't seem to be anything else to destroy Adam finally sat down right on the floor in a crouching position, heaving air through his lungs like a winded rhinoceros. He glared at the floor and his broken claws that had begun to bleed from being torn out in his fury.

For ages the only sound that echoed in the room was Adam gasping for breath. Everyone knew better then to challenge him in this mood. Though, for the life of them, they couldn't seem to figure out what had brought on this particular fit.

To Chip's misfortune, he entered the room in a rush, having missed most of the frenzy and blurted out without assessing the situation, "What is happening? What did I miss?"

Time stood very still for just a few moments and then Adam lifted his head and looked at his young friend with so many emotions passing across his face that it was almost unrecognizable from his normal face.

"I'll kill her!" he murmured deeply into his throat.

"Who?" Chip finally responded after a deep swallow.

"That evil bitch…..She stood there and let me trade… everything…..and knew."

It was said so quietly that the timbre couldn't have been more frightening if he had been shouting.

"Who knew what, Your Highness?" Cogsworth asked with more bravery then he felt.

Adam swung his gaze in the man's direction and was received with a fearful step backwards from his Major Domo. Chip, on the other hand, had less sense of self-preservation.

"What happened in the dining hall, Adam? What did she know?"

Adam leaned back on his haunches and with the movement some of the animal drained away from him. "Not... _Marie_...She doesn't know anything! That's the problem!"

"I'm not following you, mate."

Adam glared at him with every muscle his face could contort. "You won't understand!"

"Then make us understand, love." Mrs. Pott's voice came out more worried then she had intended.

The energy in Adam's posture continued to leech out of him. "I can't tell you..."

"Then show us." Cogsworth said, gaining bravery from the Potts family.

The beast in Adam finally retreated out; the fight having completely gone out of him. He sank back down onto his haunches like a dog and hung his head. With a great deep sigh he tried to work the button on his breast pocket but found the task difficult with his massive paws and wasn't entirely sure how he got it in there in the first place.

He made a face that caused his staff to think he would fly into another rage any moment and so Mrs. Potts took a tentative step forward and reached out her hands as if to supplicate. He nodded and looked away as she undid the button on his breast pocket and put her hand inside to grasp the little ring that lay within. She pulled it out and held it up to the light so that the family crest shone dimly. Turning it over, Adam watched as she read the inscription on the inside of the ring.

" _'For all time'_..." She whispered and her head jerked to look into Adam's eyes. He wasn't looking at her, but at the ground in a way that could only be described as pure misery.

"Where did you find this?" her words coming out in a strangled whisper.

Adam shook his head as if to refuse to say but the words came tumbling out of him anyway.

"Inside the bodice of the coat you sewed it into. Inside a small chest. On a cart. In the woods. Belonging to our guests: Marie and her son Gabriel..." The last words were spoken so quietly that it mostly came out as a rumble.

Mrs. Potts stood rigidly and gazed at Adam as if he were speaking nonsense. "But why would she have the coat Belle was wearing when she died unless..."

The color drained from her face and she swayed a little on the spot. "Oh, merciful God..."

Chip took two long strides and was at his mother's side when she sagged into him and grasped her son for support.

"I don't understand, Mother." he murmured to her. She was crying silent tears as she looked at the delicate ring in her hand.

"She didn't want to lose it...I sewed it into her coat the way I did for you when you were little." She let out a soft sob that made Adam want to do the same.

Cogsworth had to grasp a nearby chair for support. Lucky it was one that Adam had not destroyed. "And the coat went down the cliff with the princess?"

Adam looked at his Major Domo and nodded gravely.

Lumiere pressed his back into the wall and tried to make sense of what he was hearing. "Mistress Marie 'ad it zis entire time? But why?"

"She kept it in a chest in her home. Gabriel thought it was something valuable when he went back for it." Adam spoke slowly.

"But why did she 'ave it?" Lumiere still couldn't believe the glaringly obvious reason in front of him.

No one spoke for a moment. All too afraid to break the surface of the emotional sea they were about the plunge into.

"She had it because I gave it to her. Fifteen years ago I gave her a red coat, a ring with my crest, and my heart... And...she kept it...Even when she didn't remember the person who gave it to her."

The silence was suffocating and Chip couldn't continue unless it was said aloud. He held his mother tighter and looked at Adam the way he used to as a child. "Because...she's alive..."

"Alive and sitting in the dining room, wondering who she is and how she got here."


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

 **HEY HEY HEY**

 **Here is the other chapter I promised. They really have to be read together anyways. And I really like this one, actually. I really like the way they are all at a loss for what to do next. All of their emotions are on high alert and they all seem a little adrift for a few moments.**

 **I debated on the twist in this chapter until it gave me a headache and then I just decided to go with it because I like the way it pans out for the rest of the story. Sorry if it doesn't work for you. It will all come together eventually, I promise.**

 **Also, PLEASE review. Thanks and have a wonderful holiday and weekend!**

* * *

 **"The Other Side"-Ruelle**

 **Is it fair, or is it fate?**

 **No one knows**

 **The stars choose their lovers, save my soul**

 **It hurts just the same**

 **And I can't tear myself away**

 **Did we ever see it coming?**

 **Will we ever let it go?**

 **We are buried in broken dreams**

 **We are knee-deep without a plea**

 **I don't want to know what it's like to live without you**

 **Don't want to know, the other side of a world without you.**

* * *

"What I don't understand," Chip said from a small sofa in the sitting room of the West Wing "Is what you meant by _'She knew'_ "

Adam and his Heads of House were all sitting in matching furniture around a dim fire. Several maids who had not been apprised of the situation were sent to help their guests to their room while Adam had reluctantly laid out the information he had gathered to those with him.

He sighed again as if impatient to close the discussion. "You've all heard them speak of a washer woman?"

"Oui, zey lived wiz 'er until she died."

"Well, that's just it, isn't it? She couldn't have died because we happened to have met with her only a few weeks ago."

"We did?" Cogsworth said, trying to remember an encounter with a haggard washer woman.

"Not you. Chip, Luis and I. We needed her help in the small matter of my daughter lying on her deathbed."

Chip looked at Adam incredulously. "How could you know that?"

"Gabriel said that she had green eyes with no blacks in them. Marie described her rose gardens. Roses that sprung up like magic...and a room full of mirrors. Does that remind you of someone we've met before?"

Everyone in the room realized who he could be talking about and gave noises of understanding and dismay.

Chip shook his head in disgust. "Why doesn't this surprise me?"

"At this moment, I don't think anything would." Mrs. Potts said from her seat next to her son. He held her hand as she continued to grip the ring from Adam's pocket.

"So, what you are zaying is Belle fell and by zome miracle of God lived zrough ze fall. Zen wound up in a bordello where she gave birz to your child-"

"No," Adam cut in with finality. "Gabriel is not...is not my son."

"How can you know zat?"

"She told me he was twelve. My child would be at least a year older then that. And, as we have established, she was in a bordello. I think _you_ of all people would know what is done in one of those, Lumiere."

The other man rolled his eyes but did not dispute the jab.

"Then what?" Cogsworth continued the previous train of thought. "She's sitting in one of those...places, and the Enchantress just walks up and makes off with her and her child for the next decade?"

"She was disguised as the old crone. They thought she was just some senile old woman who took pity on them."

"And all this time," Mrs. Pott's watery voice finished what was not being said. "She has been there, scarred and starving, wondering who she was and what happened to her. While we have been here with more food then we know what to do with. Mourning her with our every breath."

Adam humphed a little and glared at the fire to keep from glaring at his Head Housekeeper. "What did you have to mourn!? It was all of you that demanded I admit she was dead! You came and forced me to say it!"

"Zat is not fair, Mon Ami." Lumiere said with more then a measure of censure in his voice. "You were killing yourself looking for 'er. We 'ad to do somezing."

"I would have found her! I would have kept looking for her!"

Chip's irritated voice cut in. "Think, Adam! If she was with the Enchantress do you think we would have stood any chance of finding her?!"

"Why did she keep Belle hidden in the first place, is what I want to know!" Cogsworth turning the fire back onto who really deserved it.

"To torture me!" Adam spat with vehemence.

"Or perhaps to protect her." Chip spat back.

"What are you implying, boy?" Adam's hackles raised just a fraction.

"I'm implying that we don't know why or how Belle could have lived through that fall. No one should have been able to live through it! Maybe the Enchantress has her reasons for doing what she does! Wasn't it you who told me that we should be careful what we say about her!"

"Are you defending her now?!"

"I'm defending Belle! Remember Belle!? Who is sitting in her rooms thinking her name is Marie and that she's a former whore from Lautrec?!"

Adam stood so quickly it made everyone else jump back in alarm. "Belle is NOT A WHORE!"

Chip stood in turn and glared impressively back at Adam. He had clearly been practicing. "Exactly! There are holes in this story! We don't know everything and that includes why she had to live in the home of an _actual_ witch for the last, God knows how many years!"

"And what would you propose we do about it, Chip!?"

"Tell her! Go down there and tell her the truth!"

"She doesn't remember!"

"Then make her remember!"

Adam turned away in frustration and knocked another end table to the ground forcefully. "I can't!"

"Why!?"

Adam walked to the window and looked out into the pitch darkness. The glass on the window showed a grotesque reflection and he closed his eyes as if to blot it out from his memory. He tried to say the words softly. As if the quiet would make them less true.

"Look at me now? What do I have to offer her now? While she was dying in a bordello I was marrying another woman and creating a new family as if she never existed. How can you ask me to set that at her feet? Even if she were to believe me...she would never forgive me."

Adam paused to catch his breath and it encapsulated decades of pain that had been carefully maintained and tucked away. Only to come spilling out at this exact moment.

"Please...please God, please don't make me live with that. Better if she never remembers. Better still if she had never met me."

Cogsworth looked as if he had aged a hundred years in those last few minutes. "So we are to leave her as she is? Penniless and alone in the world?"

"No!" Adam turned back to them. "No...She is still a princess. Even if she can't remember it. We must treat her as such."

"She's practically skin and bones and those scars on her face...What she must have endured..." Cogsworth folded his hands to his heart.

Adam hated himself in that moment more then he had ever hated anyone. "She deserved better...better then us. If she had never come here..."

"You mustn't think like that." Mrs. Potts moved as if to go to him but he shook his head to shake the tears in his voice and eyes away.

"But I do. You cannot tell her. Promise me you won't tell her!" He paused for a moment and the small gasping breath he took was the saddest thing his Heads of House had ever heard." I can't…I can't lose her again if she leaves because we told her the truth...

"So what would you have us do with her, then?" Cogsworth asked.

Adam shrugged twice before leaning against the window of the balcony, unable to look anyone in the eye. "Just let me….let me have a little time with her. Just a little time. I never thought I would ever get to see her again and…I just want to…be with her. Even if it can't be forever."

Mrs. Potts face softened as she ran her thumb across the gold ring. "You still love her."

Adam nodded once without any hesitation. "For every second of every day she has been gone."

"But you don't want her to remember you." Chip said, voicing the truth no one wanted to say.

"No." Came the eventual response.

"Because you are a beast now?"

"Many years ago you three came to me and told me to stop looking for her. And I promised that I would. She may have come back in body but…..I cannot continue to chase her ghost. Not when I have nothing to offer her. Please, promise me you will let it be. Just let it be what it is."

There was a long sigh from Lumiere. "We will promise. But zat will not stop us from loving 'er as she deserved to be loved. Even you can agree to zat."


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39**

 **Hey Everyone! So I am sooooo sorry about the lack of updates over the last few weeks. I have been living far away from home and family for a while now and I had some life-changing things happen that were as tragic as they were epic. I don't want to get too far into TMI but I will tell you that it's been one hell of a month and I was not in a safe situation, let alone one where I could focus on writing. I apologize and I promise that now that I'm in a safer place I will start to redirect back to my normal self.**

 **I am so glad so many enjoyed the last two chapters. I was worried about how those two would be received and I am so glad that the emotion came across.**

 **Writeyourdreamstheywillcome: I adore your reviews. They are so well thought out and phrased. I hope that everything unfolds in an organic way and please continue to keep me on my toes with your feedback. I adore it.**

 **SC Guest: I love how much you love my version of Chip. If I could marry a character, it would be him. (Just my version of him, not the animated little-boy-teacup...)**

 **And to the random guest who reviewed and asked for an update. Thank you. I was a little lost and that jarred be back into the present.**

 **This chapter is going to be lighter but will honestly touch your hearts to the core if I did everything right. I did borrow heavily from the book Beauty by Robin McKinley. I loved the detail in the book that Beauty loved spice cake (honestly, because it's my favorite as well). But I also just wanted something to bridge the gap between the awkwardness of chapter 36 and the heart wrenching drama of chapters 37 and 38.**

 **Next week I will be back in America and will be on the road to recovery. Heading in a much better direction, I promise. I will post another chapter before the holidays. In the meantime, please read and review. Share my cute story with someone else and get them to read and review. It helps more then you know.**

* * *

 **"Better Place" Rachel Platten**

 **I see the whole world in your eyes**  
 **It's like I've known you all my life**  
 **We just feel so right**  
 **So I pour my heart into your hands**  
 **It's like you really understand**  
 **You love the way I am**

 **And ah ah ah ah ah, you're my favorite thing**  
 **Ah ah ah ah ah, all the happiness you bring**  
 **But it feels like I've opened my eyes again**  
 **And the colors are golden and bright again**  
 **And the sun paints the skies and the wind sings her song**  
 **It's a better place since you came along**  
 **It's a better place since you came along**

* * *

The next morning there were several drawn faces that indicated not many people in the castle had slept after the previous nights revelations. Adam came in through the door to the breakfast room to find Marie and Gabriel already seated at the table. When they spotted him they both rose to their feet having picked up the courtesy from watching the servants do it.

"May I join you this morning?" Adam asked as softly as his beastly voice could.

Marie gave a ghost of a smile through her scarf and nodded her head. They all resumed their seats while the footman prepared the tea and laid a plate in front of Adam. He looked down at it and let the silence stretch on for miles before finally looking up at his guests. "Forgive me..."

They both put their spoons down and gave Adam matching quizzical looks. "For what, My Lord?"

"For my rudeness last night. It was very offensive to have left you both here the way I did and I apologize."

Gabriel gave Adam a rather pitiful look. "Was it something I said, Your Lordship?"

Adam looked deeply into those massive brown eyes and gave him a small smile of reassurance. "No, my boy, it was nothing you said. I assure you, it was my own lack of good manners that caused me to leave."

Everyone seemed to be at a loss for words at that moment and so they continued their simple breakfast. A few minutes after Adam's arrival into the breakfast room Cogsworth cleared his throat.

"Harmon wishes to have a word, Your Lordship."

Adam set down his spoon and turned to look at his Major Domo. "Does it have to be right now?"

"He specifically requested an audience with both you and your guests." Cogsworth eyes held so much meaning that Adam was reluctant to say yes. Despite that, he still managed a short nod and the doors to the kitchen were opened. Harmon came walking in, his chef's hat rung between his hands and two maids pushing a large cake behind him. Harmon's eyes alighted on Marie and several fat tears leaked out of his face like a runny spigot.

"Forgive me, My Lord. 'Twas up all night making this...for no reason really...just felt like making it...needed to give it to someone...You know how these things are..."

He waved the cart over and the two maids deposited the cake right between Marie and Gabriel. It was another one of Harmon's pastry perfections and both the woman and her child stared at it with their mouths opened.

"Harmon..." Adam murmured with a grumble of warning. The chef gave his Master a glare in return and then turned his moon eyes back to Marie. "I hope you would enjoy it, Missus. I can make another anytime you want if you don' like it. In fact, tell me everything you like now and I'll make them for ye."

Marie gave a panicked look towards Adam who put a paw on Harmon's arm indicating the need to vacate post haste. To his surprise, Harmon didn't flinch away from Adam. Rather, he put a callused hand on Adam's arm and patted it fondly. Tears continued to drip down his face as he gazed at Marie in awe.

"We'll make you a list." Adam said dryly and steered Harmon and his maids away from the table.

Gabriel's eyes hadn't left the massive cake on the cart since it had entered the dining hall. Adam was painfully reminded that this young man may have never seen anything like it in his life, let alone tasted one. He had never had things like it for his birthday or any holiday in celebration. He may not be Adam's son but he was Belle's and Adam felt pain for that loss in this boy's childhood.

Cogsworth stepped forward and put his hands on the cart to wheel it away. The look of sheer disappointment that painted Gabriel's face was heartbreaking and Adam raised a paw instinctively.

"You...do not wish me to take it away?" Cogsworth gave Adam a measured look.

"No...no, leave it here. There isn't any law that restricts cake for breakfast."

A rueful smile played at Cogsworth's face. "I will bring a serving tray."

"No need. We have forks and mouths. That should be sufficient."

As if he couldn't believe his ears, Cogsworth walked back bewilderingly to his post. Adam gave the pair at the table a mirthful expression and raised his fork. Marie eyed him warily, while Gabriel looked like Christmas had come early.

"Is he always like that?" Marie asked while Adam considered the cake. "Weepy and handing out cakes to strangers?"

"You aren't a stranger. You are our guest. Is he not allowed to make a cake for our guest?"

"I suppose. It seems like such an extravagant gesture for no apparent reason then our presence at the table."

"My dear, that is quite enough occasion for me. Now...I can usually tell what kind of cake we are dealing with just by looking at it."

"There is more than one kind?" Gabriel asked eagerly. He reminded Adam of a dog that had been told to stay but was having a hard time obeying the command.

"Indeed. Now, Harmon makes, arguably, the most exquisite Ganache cake I have ever tasted."

"You eat cake then?" Marie still seemed to be stuck on the peculiarity of them eating cake at eight in the morning.

"As opposed to what? Raw meat?" Adam rejoined but without his usual sarcasm.

She looked a little abashed anyway and took a dainty sip of her tea. "I suppose that is what I thought..."

Gabriel actually giggled which was such an odd noise that Adam couldn't help but look amused.

"What kind is this one?"

"Perplexingly enough, I don't know..." Adam poised his fork near the cake so elegantly that Marie couldn't help but watch him. He dipped it in the frosting and pulled back a dark spongy substance that smoothly came apart. It was so fragrant that it reached Marie's nose and her mouth immediately started to water as if some memory were playing just under the surface of her mind. She wanted that cake so badly she could literally remember tasting it. Which was absurd as she had no memory of eating any such thing in her life.

A little smile played at Adam's mouth and he put the fork to his nose and smelled it deeply, closing his eyes as if savoring something precious. "I should have known." He murmured.

"What is it?" Gabriel bounced a little to see the side of the cake Adam was looking at.

"It's a spice cake. Something of a favorite around here..."

"Is it your favorite?" Gabriel asked craning his neck and sitting on his hands to keep from reaching out and grabbing at the cake like a wild animal.

Adam couldn't help but smile fondly in Marie's direction and then make eye contact with Lumiere and Cogsworth who weren't even pretending to be oblivious servants at the moment.

"I had a very dear friend once. She lived at the castle and it was her favorite. So yes, I suppose it is mine as well. For her sake."

"What does it taste like?"

Without much hesitation Adam handed the fork over to Gabriel. The boy looked almost frightened of taking it out of the outstretched paw but once it was between his fingers it was almost immediately in his mouth. His eyes lit up and he mumbled through his mouthful. "It's delicious!"

Marie seemed to be caught in a painful battle of wills. She watched as Gabriel took forkful after forkful right out of the cake and shoved them into his mouth. He didn't even seem to be chewing and several eyes were trained on him in case he started to choke.

Adam leaned in Marie's direction. "Evidently it's not poisoned or he would have dropped dead already."

"As it stands he might anyway with the way he's inhaling it."

"He's earned it."

"Why do you say that?"

"My guess is you have a fair few meals to make up for over the years."

She colored a little and it made her look more beautiful then he remembered. "Even if that were true, I doubt breakfasts of cake were anything we were owed."

Adam would have liked to shake her and tell her how much she was owed but he didn't. He merely picked up his spoon and twirled it in his paw. "You'd be surprised."

When she didn't have anything to say to that, he again dipped his utensil in the cake. But instead of leading it to his mouth he leaned over and smeared just a touch of frosting on her nose. Her eye that was visible became so wide that he was sure they would fall out of her head. Gabriel had paused with his fork halfway to his mouth, frosting covering his cheeks and lips comically. Marie didn't move for a moment and Adam sat back in his chair wondering if she would storm out of the breakfast room in a huff. Ever so slowly she reached over and ran her index finger over the surface of the cake. Staring him dead in the eyes, she reached over and spread the sticky substance across his own wide nose and down his mouth. She leaned back in her seat as well with a slightly satisfied look on her face.

And Adam couldn't help it. He started to laugh. A deep rumbling chuckle that echoed inside the room. And then she started to laugh and it was the most beautiful thing that Adam had ever heard. Gabriel's little bark of laughter was next and it made Adam laugh harder. More at the boy then with him, but he didn't need to know that. They all laughed so hard that the table shook and the servants were trying to hide their chuckles behind their hands as Adam closed his eyes and listened to her laugh. After it had subsided he tried to turn away from their view as his long tongue flicked out and licked the frosting off his own nose and face. Gabriel wiggled a little in his seat and looked at Adam with delight. "Do that again!"

"Do what?"

"That thing with your tongue!" And then the boy promptly tired to lick his own nose with his short human tongue.

Adam shook his head bemused and looked at Marie as she daintily cleaned off her own face and looked at Adam with one of her rare smiles. He again picked up his offending spoon and dipped it into the mutilated cake. Taking a small morsel he handed it to her expectantly.

"Try it."

"What if I don't like it?"

"You will, I promise."

And when she took the spoon from him, her fingers brushed his hand and he had to hide a shiver that spanned the length of his body. She gently placed the spoon-full of cake into her mouth and when she closed her eyes her expression softened to one of pure bliss. And that was all the confirmation Adam really needed.


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

 **Oh! I have missed doing this so much! I am so sorry for the delay. I meant to get a chapter out last week and I had a small issue where I was diagnosed with pneumonia in my left lung! (Wet climates to really cold climates do a number on the immune system!). Feeling much better after a lot of rest and realized I hadn't posted a chapter in almost TWO WEEKS! As always, I will continue to try and get a chapter out a week. We are in the middle of the best part of this whole story and I don't want to lose any of you. If you are still reading this know that I love you to death and I hope that you stick this out.**

 **SC Guest: Thank you so much for being my constant reviewer. I needed it more then you could know at the time.**

 **This chapter borrows heavily from both the original movie, the new 2017 movie and Beauty by Robin McKinley. I hope it's not too heavy handed but it came down to not messing with a good thing. In my thought process I imagined Adam desperately wanting to recreate all memories that made up who he was when he was with Belle. However, I think he would have changed it just enough to make it new and fresh. That is where I was going with all of this. There is going to be a lot of really beautiful scenes in the library and I wanted this chapter to reflect both my love of the original and all the cool things I'm doing with this story. Hope you enjoy it.**

 **As always, please review and know that I will be more consistent in the future. I hope all of your winter season has been WONDERFUL no matter what your holiday or traditional practices are.**

 **THANK YOU!**

* * *

 **"Sea of Lovers" Christina Perri**

 **A certain type of wind has swept me up**  
 **A chill has found each bone**  
 **I am overcome**  
 **There is an icy breath that escapes my lips**  
 **And I am lost again**

 **A certain type of darkness has stolen me**  
 **Under a quiet mask of uncertainty**  
 **I wait for light like water from the sky**  
 **And I am lost again**

 **In the sea of lovers without ships**  
 **And lovers without sight**  
 **You're the only way out of this**  
 **Sea of lovers losing time**  
 **And lovers losing hope**  
 **Will you let me follow you**  
 **Wherever you go**  
 **Bring me home**

* * *

In the weeks that preceded the cake incident Adam found that time was doing something rather odd. It would crawl at a snails pace until he could almost feel himself going mad with the monotony. Then, when meal times slowly crept up on him it would race off at a speed that blundered through and then ended quickly.

He would rise in the mornings and allow Monte to dress him. He found it very difficult at first to allow his man to touch him. It was a hard enough thing finding someone to help you dress in the first place. Harder still that he was so very large and awkward in his shape and mindset. The absolute mortification and horror of having to loop his tail through a hole in his trousers was enough to make a man want to die of shame. He would have liked to have refused the assistance but to do so would require a significantly less amount of clothing to be worn and with his guests about he had no other alternative then to be saddled up in his costume like a dog on parade.

There wasn't much business to be considered. The castle would go on as it usually did. Chip continued to lay out traps and sent out scouts for food. Adam took his turns hunting and allowed himself a long run in the mornings to keep the animal in him quiet and happy.

He lived for mealtimes. When he could look at her face. Conversations became easier between himself and his guests. Their range of small talk was expanding, though not as quickly as he would have liked. He tried to avoid any topic that might cause discomfort but was proving difficult as everything important in his life surrounded his love for Belle. His solution was to just never speak of himself, and thus, not of her.

At the end of the evenings Marie and Gabriel always retired early. As the days passed on it was becoming excruciatingly painful to watch her walk away and not call out her real name. Not confess everything. He had spent the better part of two weeks trying to come up with a way to spend more time with them. If he couldn't tell them the truth at least he could relish in the time he did have with them.

Breakfast that day was extravagant. It had been growing more so over the weeks. Adam had been slowly sneaking notes to Harmon about the differences between the foods Belle had liked when he had known her and the foods Marie was showing interest in. It wasn't surprising to see they were almost identical but he would continue to keep that fact to himself. If they kept this up they would run out of food and starve to death before winters end just trying to impress her.

It had been a quiet meal. Gabriel was as animated as he ever was but there was something a little subdued about them both. The weather outside was bleak and Chip would not be able to take the boy out that particular day due to other matters of scrounging up enough food to continue to feed their lot.

Adam had been obnoxiously attentive of Marie's diet as the days and weeks had passed. He ate very little in front of them, finding it much easier to do so when he didn't have to be so dainty. However, when it came to her, he continued to push dish after dish in front of her. He insisted that she try everything she might like. He was almost always right about what she cared for and she was more then bewildered at his accuracy in finding just what she would want to eat that day. She could not recall a time when she was allowed to eat whatever she wanted and how much she wanted. For the first time in her memory she felt healthy. Her fatigue and listlessness was starting to fade and she found that she could think. She could walk the length of the corridors and keep her breath. It was both a wonderful and unnerving feeling. As she found herself concentrating less on fainting and more on her surroundings the more they made her skin prickle and her mind flash to scenes she couldn't place or remember.

"Would you like that?" The Beast's voice reached her through her wandering thoughts.

She looked back at his expectant, unnervingly human, blue eyes. "I apologize, Your Lordship. I was miles away."

He opened his mouth as if to ask her what she had been thinking about, then seemed to think better of it and glanced away as if to stop himself. She was grateful for this. She didn't know how to explain the images that swirled through her brain. The nightmares of falling from a cliff with a beautiful stranger trying to save her. To her dismay the dreams were changing the longer she stayed here. Before, in her dreams, she was being held by a nondescript face. Now the face looked alarmingly like how she remembered Prince Adam when he come to her cottage. Except he had the Beasts's eyes. It frightened her and she would sooner forget if she could.

"His Lordship wants to give us a tour!" Gabriel's excited voice brought her back a second time.

She again gazed at the Beast with a soft smile. "A tour?"

The Beast seemed a little embarrassed and looked down at his plate. "I worry there are a great many places you have not had the chance to explore in this castle."

Her smile grew and if she could have seen through all that fur on his face she would have witnessed a very real blush creep up to his eyes.

"I _know_ there is. It seems we get hopelessly lost every time we try to find anything by ourselves. I worry one day you'll find my sad, starved body stretched out and searching for the kitchen."

The change in his face was instantaneous and for the most absurd moment she thought he actually looked like he might cry. She was so taken aback that she involuntarily reached a hand out to his paw. When he noticed he sat up straighter and tucked his paws to his side as if he hadn't.

"Well," he said clearing his throat. "We won't let that happen. Soon you'll know this castle better then I do."

She wanted to sit and reevaluate what she had said to upset him but he didn't seem up to the task. "Have you ever gotten lost here? I imagine they would have to send a whole rescue group to find someone in a place this big."

A small chuckle returned to his voice and he nodded. "I did when I was younger."

"How young?" Gabriel asked, trying to insert himself into the conversation.

"Younger then you." he replied enigmatically.

The boy scratched his chin like a great philosopher. "Strange, thinking about you as a young beast. Did you always look like this?"

Marie gave Gabriel a stern look but Adam could only smile and wonder where this boy inherited his audacity.

"If I told you that, where would the magic be in it?"

Gabriel gave Adam one of his dazzling smiles and he was almost as blinded by it as he was by Marie's

"We're so lucky, Mother. We get to live with a magical Lord Beast who gives us cake for breakfast!"

* * *

"My feet hurt..." Gabriel commented as they continued to troop through the castle as the hours of the day wore on. Luncheon would be served shortly and Adam had exhausted as many interesting locations as he could think of. His audience had been dazzled and satisfyingly appreciative of the entire castle.

And yet, with every room he strolled through he felt his heart sink a little further into his feet. Marie walked from room to room and seemed to come right to the water's edge of remembering something. He caught her touching a piece of furniture or staring at a room as if she saw something he did not. She would make a comment about something that she couldn't possibly know unless she was Belle and yet nothing seemed to come to her. She looked at him with that same sweet vacancy as she always had. But he was slowly reminded, again and again, how well he had known her. He wondered what he had been thinking when he had suggested this mad scheme. It was the slowest and most exquisite of tortures.

With a deep sigh that could stir storms he looked at her in the face and would have given anything to see a spark of recognition in that one visible brown eye. "I have one more thing to show you."

"What is it?"

"It's a surprise." He murmured softly, feeling the Deja Vu wash over him.

"Shall we close our eyes?" Gabriel asked with renewed enthusiasm.

Adam smiled a small smile. "Very well then." They both closed their eyes and he took each by the hand and led them the few paces down the corridor to the library doors. Opening them, he stepped inside and noted that the curtains had already been opened and the fires already lit.

"Just a few more steps and you can open your eyes."

He led them deep into the cavernous room.

"Now...Before you do, I want you to take a deep breath. Remember how you felt the first time you were here."

Marie smiled with her eyes closed as she breathed in deep and more calm came to her face then he ever remembered seeing. "May we open them?"

"Alright, now..."

Both mother and child opened their eyes and looked around the room. If Adam remembered the first time he had taken Belle to the library it felt like nothing compared to the joy on her face now. Gabriel let out a little shout while all Marie could do was suck in a breath and gaze around herself with a look of amazement and euphoria on her face.

"What do you think?" Adam finally asked, breathless by her reaction.

"In all my dreams of a better life, I could not have imagined a more beautiful place. If I could picture heaven, it might look like this..."

Adam couldn't help but reach for her hand. He touched it with his massive paw and was rewarded with just the traces of a squeeze from her light fingers.

He took her through the maze of rooms. The small alcove filled with plush chairs and a well made fire. The large globe that sat right in the center for would-be explorers to plot.

She touched the books with reverence whenever she passed them and Adam would have kissed every spot her fingers graced if he had been alone.

Eventually they came to the portrait. He couldn't tell if his heart was filled with excitement or dread. Those emotions seemed to be sporting a sordid affair these days.

The painting was massive, towering far above them in its grandeur. Adam felt like a fool for having commissioned it as it was a glaring reminder of his ravaged life. Not to mention it had clearly been a thorn in Elizabeth's side their whole marriage. He had been too young and foolhardy to understand that putting such a massive portraiture of his dead wife on display in the library was an unkind thing to do to your new wife. And yet, still it remained as it had since the day it was painted. It was Adam's favorite picture he had of her. Smiling and surrounded by roses; you could almost see her eyes sparkle and her mouth turn up in a knowing grin.

Something was happening to Marie beside him. She was fidgeting and looking at the portrait as if she wanted to reach out and touch it but kept pulling her hands back. She took a deep shuddering breath and looked up at Adam with disconcertment.

"I know her!"

Adam felt like someone was crushing his windpipe. If this was the moment he wasn't sure he was ready for it, though he had prayed for it fervently regardless.

"I have met her, I know her!"

"Where?" Adam squeezed out. "Do you remember her from your past?"

Marie shook her head as if she was trying to clear something out of the way. "I do...I remember her somehow... I knew her!"

"Marie, where did you meet his woman? I need to know."

If she heard the urgency in his voice she did not show it. She again shook her head and then gazed back up at the portrait of Belle. The plaque underneath the portrait had been polished a hundred times over and shone brightly against the midday sun that filtered in through the large windows.

"What does it say?! What is her name?" Marie pointed to the plaque as a hound dog would on the scent of its quarry. Adam shifted positions uncomfortably and squinted down at the gold filigree etched into the metal.

Marie took a step back and looked up at him. "I am sorry, I only assumed you could read it. I shouldn't have."

Adam gave her such an affronted look that her cheeks colored at it. "I can _read_ , thank you..."

Giving a gruff little grunt he leaned down and looked at the plaque and its damnable words.

 _" '_ _Pour toujours' "_ _  
_

Marie blinked as if she was trying to remember something. _" 'For...all time...' "_

Adam nodded and then continued. _" 'For my Belle, who loved this library. From Adam who would always love her.' "_

He straitened to his full height and looked back at the small woman who stood beside him.

"Belle... This is the Princess Isabelle..." She whispered.

"In this house they only ever called her Belle."

"Then I didn't know her...Ah, but I am foolish. Thinking I would recognize anyone in a place like this..." Her voice held bitter disappointment.

"Perhaps...perhaps you did know her...somewhere..." He hedged.

She gave him a touch of a glare. "Look at me. Do I look like someone who would have known a princess?"

She turned and walked away, not wishing to continue the embarrassing conversation.

Adam looked up at the portrait and the smiling figure that seemed oblivious to anything but her own happiness.

"Your dead self is haunting your very much alive self. Think about that, my dearest. Think….about...that..."


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41**

 **GUYS! I'm a day late but I am back on track like I promised! Here is another chapter! I am so happy to be presenting it to you. And the best news is I am feeling lots better. Modern medicine is amazing! Gotta love antibiotics!**

 **Okay first, reviews! I got the most adorable reviews this week and I am in love with them!**

 **SC Guest: You have the best analysis of my story. You always seem to pick out the best parts of my story to comment on.**

 **To the other guest who commented on: Thank you! I am feeling much better! You are a dish for saying so!**

 **And to CC (Guest): I saw your review a couple days ago and cried a little. I am so happy that you spent your sick day reading my fic. I honestly should scour Tumblr for more readers. I just get worried that no one would like it. It means soooo much to me that you liked it and that it touched you. Please keep reviewing and reading and letting me know what you think.**

 **Alright, onto the good stuff. This chapter is kind of fluff, I'm not going to lie to you. But we've had chapters and chapters of angst and I think this was well overdue. I wanted it to be sweet and funny and to move the plot along into a direction that will result in the maximum emotional response. I really hope you like it and it fills you with warm fuzzies.**

 **Other then that I hope you are all having a great week and that you find some good things in this chapter to read and review. See you next week!**

* * *

 **"Breathe Again" Sarah Bareilles**

 **Open up next to you and my secrets become your truth**  
 **And the distance between that was sheltering me comes in full view**  
 **Hang my head, break my heart built from all I have torn apart**  
 **And my burden to bear is a love I can't carry anymore**

 **All I have, all I need, he's the air I would kill to breathe**  
 **Holds my love in his hands, still I'm searching for something**  
 **Out of breath, I am left hoping someday I'll breathe again**

* * *

Adam ordered luncheon served inside the library at one of the tables in the alcove. Gabriel had piled dozens of books on the tables and was happily flipping through them and looking at the maps and pictures that had been painted inside.

Adam leaned back in his chair and watched the boy smiling to himself as he flipped through page after page.

"Where did you learn to read, my boy?" Adam asked conversationally.

Without looking up Gabriel responded. "The washer woman taught me. Said I might need it one day."

"Well, then... What foresight your washer woman had..." Adam wanted to grit his teeth but didn't want to raise attention to it. He took a deep breath and finally asked the question that had been on his mind for weeks.

"Did she have a library tucked away with her….mirror room?"

Marie looked up from the book she had been peering at to give Adam a quizzical look. "No. She always brought in things from the villages we were staying near."

"The villages?" Adam asked eagerly. "I assumed you were always in Lautrec."

Gabriel shook his head. "We had to move all the time. I hated it! No one wants to be your friend when you're always moving away."

Adam couldn't keep the confusion from his face. "But why?"

Marie shrugged her shoulders and started to sort Gabriel's books into piles. "I stopped asking shortly after she came for me. She once told me that until the right moment came we had to keep moving. I guess I will never know what that right moment was. She always seemed to have a cousin or a great-nephew with a cottage or an apartment in the city to stay in."

Adam shifted in his chair and couldn't help but be astonished at the story that was finally putting the pieces together for him. "When did go back to…." He cleared his throat. "When did you end up in the cottage before the Prince found you?"

A displeased emotion passed across her face at the mention of their encounter in her cottage and Adam looked down at his paws so he wouldn't have to see how much she disliked him. Even if she didn't know they were one in the same.

"A little before she died she gave me the chest. The one we left on the cart."

Adam nodded and Marie continued, "She told me that she had kept her promise and that it was time I went back and found my own way. I realize now that she was raving but it seemed like she knew what she was talking about. She arranged for us to stay at her cottage in Lautrec and I thought we would be alright. I suppose, looking at it now, that there was a level of protection from traveling with her. No one bothered us before she died."

Adam's mind was bursting with a thousand questions when Gabriel leaned over to Adam and in a conspiratorial whisper, put a hand around his mouth to hide it from his mother.

"That's because she was a witch. She cast spells on people and turned them into-"

Marie gave her son such a glare it made both Gabriel and Adam sit back as if caught doing something extremely ill-mannered. "Young man, I am warning you!"

Gabriel leaned over until his shoulder bumped into Adam and he looked sheepishly back at his mother through his long eyelashes. "Sorry, mother…"

"What promise did she make?" Adam finally asked in a mildly strangled tone.

With a wistful smile, Marie looked out the window as if seeing something no one else could.

"As to that, I don't think I'll ever know."

There was a meaningful silence that followed as Adam tried to picture this life he had not expected to have been a part of her history. As if to find some semblance of order to the chaos his world was riddled with, he looped back to what had started the conversation in the first place.

"Why didn't you teach him to read? I'm sure you know more then ...the washer woman ever could."

Marie looked down at her hands and then back up at Adam. "Hardly. I am a poor substitute."

"How can you say that? You must be able to..." but Adam had to stop himself. He shouldn't be able to know these things.

She made a funny clicking noise with her tongue and then continued as if he had finished whatever sentence he had started.

"Actually, My Lord...It's very difficult for me to read…..with this." And she ran a few fingers across the scarf that covered her eye. He studied her and for the first time she didn't shy away but simply looked at a spot above his shoulder and allowed him to assess what she had just said.

"Can you not see at all out of your eye?" He asked quietly.

"I can a little. It's very blurry and color is...jumbled together. My other eye becomes so tired from trying to see for both I cannot get through more than a few pages without a terrible headache."

Gabriel was discreetly looking over the top of the large book he had propped up on his lap.

A thousand thoughts ran through Adam's head as he tried to think of something else to say. He tried to think of what would be done if their roles were reversed. It didn't escape him that perhaps, in its own odd way that was exactly what was happening. Once upon a time a kind, generous girl came to this castle and saw that he was trapped. Trapped in his own fur; in his own ignorance and pain. Belle had taught him that he could read and that he was intelligent and useful. _This_ woman who sat in front of him was the one who had taught _him_ how to love. Surely he could repay the favor. Surely he could find that girl somewhere in there. If she was trapped inside her scars and pain then it was entirely up to him to help her out of it. If anyone could understand, it would be him.

He picked up a book and appraised it as if it were a crown jewel.

"I can help you."

"How?"

"Well, I happen to be a very good reader now. I wasn't always."

"Who taught you?"

He smiled a little at her. "I was taught by tutors but….I was a slow learner. I spent most of my young life thinking I was too stupid to learn. Then…someone very wonderful came to the castle and told me that I wasn't."

"They sound like an angel."

"It was Belle."

Both mouths fell open. "The Princess taught you how to read!?" Gabriel said dumbfounded.

"People will always surprise you. She was an excellent teacher."

"I fear you will be wasting your time with me." Marie said feebly.

"Any time spent with you could never be wasted, if you don't mind my saying, my lady."

Marie's excuses gave away to her barely concealed enthusiasm to be able to delve deeply into the heart of that library.

"Very well, then." She murmured with a blush.

* * *

Time loped forward at a gazelle's pace and found Adam and Marie at the alcove of the library nearly every day. The same day he had agreed to "help" Marie with her reading he found that it only took two hours of consistent study of a simple text for Marie to not only realize that she adored reading and learning but that she could speak fluent Italian and passable German. Her Latin was still impeccable and her Old English, while rusty, was still better then Adam could ever do.

She had been right about the head aches. He found that if there was enough light close to her it seemed to cause her less discomfort but she still had to take a break every page or so and allow her eye to focus back. He secretly felt that if she would just take off her scarf she might be able to continue to strengthen the damaged eye but he wasn't a doctor and wouldn't upset her if he could avoid it.

Gabriel had his time divided between studying with both his mother and Adam as well as with Cogsworth and Lumiere. The other half being dedicated to his "apprenticeship".

On no particular day, Adam and Marie were enjoying Shakespeare and Marie was enraptured with Adam's sly character voices he used from play to play.

As if out of nowhere Gabriel came bounding into view from the stacks of books he had been working with.

"Mother! Mother! I have it! I have a wonderful idea!"

Adam was so pleased to see how much fuller each of these individuals looked. Gabriel, having had enough nourishment to sustain any kind of growth, had filled out and was sure to be as tall as Adam was when in human form. His mother's bones were no longer visible underneath her skin and she had enough color to her cheeks to give roses shame. Her hair was still short but growing and Marie had allowed Mrs. Potts to trim it into a more feminine style. Adam longed for the day when it reached past her shoulders and he could admire the way it swished around her face. The jagged edges of her cheekbones had disappeared and in its place left Belle. The Belle he had always known.

"What is it, dear?" Marie said demurely. If one wasn't looking at her they would have assumed she was no less royal then Adam or his ilk.

"I was reading about this old fat king, see!" He showed an illustration of a pudgy older man in a massive book he was holding.

Adam could have laughed but chose to look gravely at Gabriel for effect. "That is the Prince's Great-Grandfather..."

Gabriel looked a little abashed and then back at the illustration. "Well, he _is_ fat..."

Marie turned and looked at Adam apologetically. "I am afraid no amount of your refined tutelage is going to reform my son from his life of offending everything he comes across."

"At least he has candor, which is more then I can say for most people."

"Gabriel, why are you showing us this?"

The boy lit up again. "Well, it was saying that he gave all these jewels and things to this woman here." Gabriel turned the page to another illustration of a woman bedecked in finery.

"It says she was his mistress! She lived at the castle and he gave her all kinds of amazing things and took her to interesting places like Scotland!"

Gabriel gulped in breath like he was in a race to get his words out. "The Prince will return soon and when he does you can be his mistress and then we don't have to leave this castle ever!"

Everyone went dead silent for just a moment before the loudest laughter erupted from behind the stacks of books. Very near where Adam last saw Lumiere disappear to when he had come in to study with Gabriel. It went on and on until it almost sounded like Lumiere was wheezing and would soon pass out.

Marie made a deeply mortified noise and put a hand on her chest. "Gabriel! How could you say such a thing?!"

Gabriel looked utterly confused and Adam felt a blush creep all the way up his collar to the top of his horns.

"What did I say?" The boy looked between the pair sitting at the table.

"I think I might die of embarrassment..."

Adam would have put a comforting hand on her arm but the content of the conversation mixed with his own vivid memories of his time with Belle made him think better of it.

"Gabriel..." Adam began cautiously, trying to keep his voice steady. He wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or cry. "Do you know what a mistress is?"

The book lowered a few inches. "No."

Again laughter erupted behind the stacks of books and Adam wanted to push a few over on top of the French fool! See if he laughs then.

Adam turned and looked back at the boy's mother with a solemn expression. "It's time you had that conversation."

Marie looked panicked stricken. "I can't do it!"

Adam sighed and looked down at himself. "I am not exactly the kind of creature that should be explaining it to him either."

"Explain what?!" Gabriel looked indignant at his mother and Adam. Their secret language was irrationally irritating to him.

Adam cleared his throat and loudly called for Lumiere. Immediately the laughter stopped and the Butler appeared from behind the books, a smile still plastered on his face.

"Yes, Your Lordship?"

"Gabriel is in need of your particular tutelage."

Lumiere gave Adam an incredulous look. "You cannot mean for me to explain to 'im ze ways of ze world."

"I most certainly do. I'm sure you'll derive as much amusement out of it as you do everything else."

"Per'aps I am not quite up to ze standard you are indicating." Lumiere said with meaning dripping under each word.

"Pish tosh, You taught _me_ didn't you? I managed alright."

" 'Ardly an equal comparison."

Gabriel was starting to grow increasingly agitated. "Mother, what are they speaking of?"

"Gabriel," Adam said laying a paw on the boy's shoulder. It was so much easier to touch him then it was his mother. The boy didn't bring up pain with every word he spoke. "Lumiere has another lesson to teach you today. Good luck!"

And without another word, Lumiere steered Gabriel in the direction they had come for his less then pleasant task.

They both sat in embarrassed silence for a few moments and avoided eye contact.

"I wish I could find his real father. I would ring the man's neck with my bare hands." She finally said from her corner of the table. Adam looked at her through the side of his eye.

"I am sure Gabriel will be sufficiently mortified after Lumiere is through with him. I would give the poor boy a wide birth for a while until he comes to terms with the facts."

"Such a ridiculous idea! If the Prince heard he would be in every right to throw us out for such an offense. Offering to be his mistress, really!"

Adam almost smiled at her indignation. "No, he might have even found it amusing. Regardless, though, he would not take a mistress again, that is for certain."

Marie looked up at him. "Again?"

The beast next to her froze and looked as if he had been caught doing something horrid. "I meant...at all. He wouldn't take a mistress at all." He cleared his throat again. "It's not, hm, It's not really in his nature to do so."

Marie didn't seem mollified but she dropped the subject because it was too embarrassing to pry. "You and the Prince seem like a very unlikely pair. I find it hard that you know so much about him."

"His Highness is not so high and mighty as you might believe."

"He is also not as kind as you."

Adam ducked his head and would hide the shame he instantly felt in his eyes. "I would that you knew him better, My Lady. He is not so bad as all that. Just an ordinary man, really."

"I believe you and I have very different ideas of what ordianary means."

"How so?"

"Ordinary men do not live in castles."

"He wakes in the morning and makes his way through the day as anyone else must."

"Except with servants and cooks and a valet."

"If you knew him, you would know that he doesn't care about those things nearly as much as you would believe. He would give them up if he could."

"And do what? Has he ever drawn water for his own bath? Would he even know where to go to get it?"

Adam sat stunned for a moment as he realized that he, in fact, _didn't_ know where to get water for a bath. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair and looked at her evasivly from the side.

"Well…" he choked a little trying to recover from being blindsided with the truth. "I am sure he would have to figure it out. How hard can it actually be…?"

For a moment Marie looked at him incredulously and then burst into laughter that made Adam feel more embarrassed then before.

"Oh, but I suppose I will have to become as anamoured with your Prince Adam as much as the rest of this castle. If simply because you are."

"I am only trying to paint him in a better light then what you remember. You don't understand how much he regreted….his encounter with you on that day at your cottage. He didn't mean to hurt you or make you feel like you are less then you are."

"He seemed so….angry. He asked if I was….an enchantress? Whatever that means. And that I had come back to trick him. What did he mean?"

Adam sat back in his chair and ran the memory through his head at top speed. He had not realized he had said any of those things at the time. The only explanation was pure maddness for him to have said such things. He swollowed again and looked sadly back at Marie, wishing that he could tell her.

"You once said that I seemed like a creature out of a fairy story?"

"Yes, I remember."

"Well, it stands to reason that a castle with something like me in it might just have a few other unexplainable secrets to it as well. If the Prince mentioned the Enchantress then it was out of fear, not anger. If you ever believe anything I say, believe that he never meant to hurt anyone. He has made terrible mistakes in his lifetime that cost him his very soul. And the only person who was able to give it back to him was torn away and he has never been able to forgive himself for it."

"He misses her very much, then?"

"I'm not sure he will ever be entirely alive again without her. She took that with her."

"What of his second wife. She has been Princess far longer then the first."

"Make no mistake, My Lady, he loves Elizabeth with every breath he takes."

"But?"

"But...when one is party to a romance as epic as his and Belle's...It changes you. It changes how you see everything in life."

"That would explain why he reacted the way he did at my cottage. It escapes me, though, how he could have ever thought I looked like her."

"You do yourself no credit when you say such things." Adam murmured reprovingly.

Marie's brow furrowed a little as she traced a knot on the tabletop. "Looking at her in the portrait, I would have believed it if you had told me she was a recreation of an angel in the artist's mind. That leaves little room for interpretation when it comes to small people like myself."

"But that is only _your_ interpretation. I beg your forgiveness, my Lady, but I must say that though it is of little use coming from a creature like myself, to me, you are perfect."

Neither spoke as they gazed at one another. Warm brown met cool blue and and Adam wondered what had come over him. Sentimental old fool that was going to scare her away with his own stupidity.

Ages passed when she finally whispered, "Thank you."

"Your welcome."


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42**

 **Hello Friends! Again, a day late, but it is still here!**

 **SC Guest: I love that you related to Belle in this way. When I started to write this fic I was worried that people would be really hung up with the idea that Belle doesn't necessarily look like the Belle from the movie anymore. I think in general we miss the point of this story when it comes to how Belle looks. They give her this distinct set of physical characteristics and if she doesn't have them (brown hair, brown eyes, really skinny, etc) then she isn't Belle anymore...Which is dumb. Even Belle wouldn't be about that "Belle". It's about who you are. And that's beautiful!**

 **CC (Guest): I am just speechless with your reviews. I love them. They are amazing! I am so glad you like this. Please keep it up!**

 **Okay, this chapter was a little long. it got some major improvements before I posted it. And again it is both intriguing and pure fluff. There are a lot of breadcrumbs here so read carefully. And also...obviously that fluff can't last forever. Nothing moves a story like conflict. So enjoy this while you can.**

 **"Mon Coeur" is supposed to mean "My Heart" in french...It sounded beautiful at the time.**

 **I was doing another read through with some fresh eyes the other day and I realized that I need to write in another couple of chapters. I want to do that before I post too many more chapters in case they affect the way the rest of the story goes (You know, sometimes these things just write themselves). So if I am a little slow to post here and there don't worry. I'm just trying to spruce things up.**

 **As always, please forgive typos...I try so hard and yet always find a few hear and there...**

 **I hope you enjoy this soooo much and that you are having a lovely weekend!**

* * *

 **"I Get to Love You" Ruelle**

 **One look at you; my whole life falls in line.**  
 **I prayed for you; before I called you mine.**  
 **I can't believe it's true, sometimes.**  
 **I can't believe it's true.**

 **I get to love you, it's the best thing that I'll ever do.**  
 **I get to love you, it's a promise I'm making to you.**  
 **Whatever may come; your heart I will choose.**  
 **Forever I'm yours, forever I do.**  
 **I get to love you, I get to love you.**

 **They say love is a journey, I promise that I'll never leave.**  
 **When it's too heavy to carry, remember this moment with me.**  
 **I get to love you, I get to love you,**  
 **I get to love you.**

* * *

It was an ordinary morning on an ordinary Tuesday. The sun was shining through the windows, lending the idea that the bitter winter months were finally circling back the way they had come. The servants were ready as they always were with nothing varying from the previous day.

Marie sat up in her large bed with it's feather pillows and warm blankets and looked out the window that had been opened by the maid that helped her dress. She had never understood why anyone would need help dressing until she had been shimmed into the kinds of clothing they wore at this castle. The amount of fabric she was swathed in every day could clothe a small army. She had been shocked when she could no longer see the bones on her rib cage and they had to refit her gowns to her new figure. She could not remember a time when she wasn't hungry but the last few years had been a waking nightmare of starvation. She wondered if that was what life had been like when she was a child or if she had looked this womanly before and just couldn't access those memories.

She rose from her bed and walked to the window and listened as the maids puttered around while Gabriel's Valet knocked on the door adjacent to her own. She looked out at the gardens of the expansive castle she resided in. It was such a beautiful sight to see the snow covered ground glittering in the sun. She thought on the day's activities. Gabriel would have lessons, she would read in library, they would talk and eat their meals in the dining halls.

And best of all she would see him.

For the first time, for as long as she could remember, she felt real. Safe as she had never been safe and just the first touches of what it must be like to be happy. Her heart beat in her chest and not deep in the pit of her empty stomach. She was seeing the world in vivid color and not dull grey or black. She looked forward to rising every morning and went to bed happy and contented every night. And through it all she saw him.

She had never known that the thing that would have changed everything was him. Her friend.

* * *

A leisure morning of reading and having breakfast led Marie to wander the halls. She wondered at when they had been made and for what purpose. Gabriel was convinced there were ghosts and had, on more than one occasion, set himself to finding one and speaking to it. When presented with the idea, His Lordship Beast had changed the subject tactfully.

She allowed the corridors to take her from room to room as she pondered on the style and craft of the paintings. She found one of the Prince and his wife. The current one. Marie had not really gotten a good look at her until that moment. The artist was a genius in capturing the regal stance of his subjects. They were a beautiful match of each other. Marie felt like the eyes of Princess Elizabeth were looking down on her drab little self from her perfectly formed nose and Marie felt shame burn her cheeks. This woman was clearly born to be a princess. Angular features and fire and ice in her gaze. Marie had a strange fancy of this Princess and the Princess Belle facing off in a battle of wills. Who would have come out victorious?

It was odd that the Beast talked of the former Princess Isabelle far more then he talked of Princess Elizabeth. And when he did talk about her it was only to speak of her in a worshipful way. As if she was some untouchable creation set up to the highest perch. The Princess Isabelle he had no less reverence for but he only ever called her 'Belle'. When he spoke of her the color of his eyes changed to a sky blue and sometimes, just out of the corner of her vision she could almost imagine what he would look like if he were human. It brought something out of him when he talked about the love the Prince had for his former Princess. It was absent when he spoke of the same with Elizabeth.

Just as Marie was about to turn back to her room to prepare for luncheon she heard the most exquisite music. She had never known how much she loved music until she had come to this castle. Amazing what the absence of abstract poverty will allow you to understand about yourself.

It was coming from the general direction of the ballroom. The Beast's tour of the castle had allowed Gabriel and herself to make their way through the labyrinth with a semblance of recall. Approaching the gallery, she heard the music stop and Cogsworth's commanding tone filled up the space to where she could hear him.

"No No No! Master Gabriel, you must feel it in the depths of your bones. You must lead her the way a swan would his mate across the waters of love!" The last word was said with so much passion that Marie could vividly imagine Cogsworth closing his eyes in ecstasy at the idea of two swans cavorting across the water. The entire staff had taken to calling her son 'Master Gabriel' and, while unnerving, it was forcing both of them to see themselves in a different light. Such respectful terms were deemed for those who demanded respect and until they had arrived at the castle she had never considered herself or her son one of them.

She heard a disgusted snort from Gabriel down below. "Do young men actually behave this way or are you trying to tell me there is more to the 'ways of men and women'?"

Ever since his fateful conversation with Lumiere, Gabriel had been unable to look his mother in the eye. Any mention of women, love, marriage, or otherwise made a blush creep up his cheeks as he obviously remembered the details that had been shared with him of what went on behind closed doors. Marie was almost grateful for his silence. She was sure he would eventually put two and two together but for now he was too embarrassed to ask her the personal details of her own private past. She wasn't ready to explain to her son that she had indeed done those same things Lumiere spoke of. She could not tell him who his father was or who she had done them with though and that brought on more shame then she was ready to confess to.

Upon further inspection of her feelings she had flashes of memories that brought a blush to her cheeks. Ones of a strong beautiful man with a body that made her own burn. In her memories (or they could have just as easily been torrid fantasies) the man was so intimately close to her that she was deeply aware of the heaven and hell that passed between them. The touches that could never be spoken of. The heaving breaths as they expended their energy into one another. The way their skin made a map of love and passion as he touched every inch of her body with his fingers, his lips and everything else that made him a man. It was incredible in its detail save for the identity of the individual for whom she had emotionally and physically opened herself to. She could remember the room, the ever-present scent of roses all around her. She could even remember the man leaning over and whispering in her ear _'Mon Coeur, mon coeur'._ This made her think she had lain down with some overly lavish French seducer. And for this she hated herself and would hide from her innocent son.

"In my experience ze men and ze women do not, 'ow you zay, glide like ze swans across waters of love." Lumiere's voice reached her with laughter. The man always seemed to be in a good mood.

"You know what I mean, Lumiere!"

"Lord Beast, do I have to do this?"

Marie was so startled to hear her son refer to the Beast that she stepped out of the shadow of the gallery to peer over into the ballroom and confirm that he was in fact present in the room. He had a smirk on his face as he watched the whole proceedings from a safe distance next to the wall.

"I'm afraid it is an integral part of your training in this castle."

"But when will I need to know the waltz when my profession will be horses. Am I to two-step with the fillies?"

"Stranger things have happened in this castle."

"You don't dance and you're the most refined chap I've ever met! Why must I learn?"

The Beast seemed to consider this for a moment before bending down a bit so that Gabriel could look him square in the eyes. "Because, my boy, one day you might have an occasion to impress someone and for some reason being able to dance says volumes about what kind of man you are. You would be surprised the things I know how to do."

"You dance? Gabriel asked with a quirked eyebrow that made Adam proud.

"Quite well, if I do say so myself. Now, arms out, set a strong pose."

The Beast mirrored the boy as they walked through the steps slowly while the music kept pace to the dancers. Marie watched in awed silence as the Beast and her son made their way through the waltz. She could not have been more transfixed at the way the Beast moved. As if he were no bigger than Gabriel and his strong form was a thing of beauty for any lover of the dance.

Perhaps because she was so intent on the way they moved that something clicked in the back of her mind. There was something in the movement. Something that made the pair look almost identical. She mused that they must have been spending so much time with His Lordship that Gabriel was starting to act and move like him in all his mannerisms.

The Beast bent down and smiled at Gabriel as if they were the only two people in the room. Marie watched with rapt attention as His Lordship put a paw behind his ears and pulled on his mane just a bit as if it was bothering him. To an ordinary observer this would seem like nothing to be commented on.

Except…. Marie's entire world had followed the course of every movement Gabriel made. And the image of a chubby little boy sitting in front of the fire, putting his delicate little hand behind his ear and pulling a bit on his hair was ingrained in her memory.

She shook her head at her own silliness but couldn't seem to shake the idea that somehow her world with Gabriel and her new world with His Lordship were somehow colliding.

"You know, Your Lordship," Lumiere interjected after the music came to a stop once more. His voice reached back up to Marie and pulled her into the conversation once more. "Zis would be much easier if we 'ad a Mademoiselle present to practice wiz. Is zere a maid wiz a modicum of grace?"

Marie could not contain the desire to be heard at that moment and so grabbing the railing with her white trembling fingers she leaned over and tried to force her voice to be strong. "Might I try?"

The four pairs of eyes as well as those of the musicians turned and looked up at her so fast that one violinist dropped his bow with a clatter.

"My Lady!" Cogsworth grabbed his chest. "We did not see you there!"

"Mother? What are you doing up there?" Gabriel looked at her puzzled, forgetting to be embarrassed by her.

"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting. But I think I can dance. May I try?"

No one spoke as everyone looked at Adam. His face was a confusing mask of pain and uncertainty. When he did not speak Lumiere turned back to her with a smile. "Of course, my dear, come come! Join us."

Marie expelled a deep breath and lifted her skirts to make her way down the corridor that would lead her down into the ballroom.

Adam turned to look at Lumiere and Cogsworth and both were surprised to see a stark look of fear in his blue eyes. "Lumiere," He murmured so his words were not as easy to distinguish to Gabriel "I can't do it. Please..."

Lumiere took a step towards his master. "What is it?"

"She won't remember and I cannot bear to see her not remember this. Please, I can't do it."

Lumiere placed a gentle hand on Adam's substantial arm. "My Prince..." He breathed and the word caught Gabriel by surprise as he attempted to watch the door for his mother and still listen to whatever drama was happening with the Beast.

Cogsworth finished what Lumiere was trying to convey. "She is finally...learning to love herself, Master. Do not deny her this. Her mind may not remember you but her heart still does."

"You must find ze courage to 'urt. 'Urt yourself to love 'er, My Prince."

Adam took a deep breath and then nodded and worked his face into something as pleasant as he could just in time to see Marie glide into the room and brighten it with a smile he had not seen before. She was happy. She was excited to dance. He would have never thought that of her after their first meeting but then here she was.

Gabriel was so baffled by the conversation he had just overheard that he took a step back without another word and watched as his mother approached the Beast-Lord of the Castle in the center of the ballroom.

"I don't know if I know how to do this and I hope I won't step on your toes." She said as a shy smile shone out from her scarf.

"Step on them all you like. And I have a feeling you were a wonderful dancer. One of the best."

"Did your angel princess teach you how to dance as well?"

Adam ducked his head to keep from smiling at the reference to Belle. "I learned the same way Gabriel is learning. From these two fools." He gestured to his advisers who gave demur nods as if he had complimented them.

"I don't remember how it starts." She said as the music began to chime in a perfect circle of notes. Her face was showing the first signs that she regretted speaking up.

Adam leaned down to look at her in the eyes the same way he had done her son. "Follow my lead. I won't let go."

He then gently took her tiny hands in his massive paws and placed one gently on his arm with the other raised up in perfect position. She felt a warmness creep into her heart as he ever so carefully wrapped a paw around her waist and was surprised when her feet followed him without any hesitation. As if they were coming back to a place they had been before.

* * *

Lumiere set a sturdy pace, after Gabriel's dance lesson, back to the library. The young boy was following without his usual chatter about every topic under the sun. Cogsworth would join them shortly after he had finished terrorizing maids and ordering footmen about. In the meantime, Lumiere had the charge to start Gabriel on formal letter writing. They had already ruined a sheaf of paper when Gabriel had spilled a bottle of ink on himself and then had smeared it all over the table, trying to clean it up.

Since then, Lumiere had started him on chalk slates and other cheaper materials. When they entered the library, it was cool and Lumiere busied himself with starting fires in the grates. He knew Marie and Adam would want to come in here and read later in the evening and he wanted to make sure they were comfortable. He built up a moderate fire with the thought in his brain that it would be warm but still cool enough that if petite little Marie were to get cold, well then, perhaps she could borrow some warmth from Adam's rather large body.

After all, it couldn't hurt to give them a little push, no?

When the fires were lit, Lumiere returned to the alcove to see Gabriel sitting on the top of the ruined, ink-stained table. His long legs dangled over the side, looking a little bemused.

"You are distracted zince your dance lesson, mon Petite Chou. Did you eat too much pudding again?"

Gabriel smiled at the memory his tutor was referring to. A few weeks prior he had finally learned why parents didn't allow their children to eat whatever they wanted. As it turns out there is a limit to your stomach's cake consumption.

The boy shook his head and his unruly mop of dark hair fluttered in his eyes. It was longer than his mother's hair and he impatiently pushed it away from his face. When he didn't immediately respond, Lumiere started to prepare the lesson for the day and organize the books by pulling them out from under where Gabriel was sitting. He hummed a little tune to himself and wasn't entirely paying attention when the boy finally did speak.

"Monsieur Lumiere, do I have to practice my lessons today?"

As if someone had slapped him across the face, Lumiere paused his task and heard the exact same voice speaking in his head.

" _Lumiere, I don't want to practice my lessons today!"_

" _Oh, but Master, you know zat it is very important for your education."_ He heard his own voice speak, ringing in his ears.

Gabriel, upon not really paying attention to Lumiere started to prattle away as he was wont to do when no one else was speaking.

"I know you said they were important, but they bore me so!"

" _I hate them! They are boring!"_

"We could tell His Lordship we did them and then go explore the gardens again. That was so much fun!"

" _You wouldn't dare tell my father…would you?"_

"Would he get angry if he found out? Do you think he would beat me? I suppose he is my Master, after all."

" _If you tell anyone, I will have you beaten! I am your master and you must obey me!"_

With a loud sigh Gabriel took Lumiere's silence for a rejection and hopped nimbly off the table.

"I suppose we must, after all. I wouldn't want His Lordship to be angry with me. He's my dearest friend, you know."

" _Fine! But I refuse to study with you! You are a servant! Not my friend! Get out of my sight!"_

"Monsieur Lumiere? Are you alright?" Upon which Adam's voice, coming out of Gabriel's mouth, startled Lumiere so much that he visibly jumped back when Gabriel laid a hand on the older man's elbow.

"I am sorry! I did not mean to startle you" Gabriel took a step back when he saw the look of abstract consternation on Lumiere's face.

For what felt like eternity Lumiere gazed at Gabriel and tried to convince himself of his own irrationality. Perhaps the years of wine and women were finally making him senile. The longer Lumiere stared the more sheepish Gabriel became until he was practically withering.

Lumiere shook his head rigorously and put a hand out to Gabriel who immediately took it as if it were a life raft.

"It is alright, Master Gabriel." Lumiere took a small breath and then planted a smile on his normally jovial face. "What zay you, we change your lesson for today a bit? Mm?"

Gabriel blinked for a moment and then nodded his head vigorously. "Alright."

" 'Ow you zay…. For every letter you write, we shall trade for one room 'Is Lordship said was…..'ow did 'e put it? Ah, oui, ' _forbidden'_."

Gabriel's eyes widened and he looked both elated and confused. "But won't His Lordship be terribly angry?"

"What 'e doesn't know won't kill 'im. And besides, zere isn't anyzing all zat terrible about 'is _'forbidden'_ rooms. Just ze attics and ze catacombs."

The boy's eyes became as wide as dinner plates. "Are there dead bodies in the catacombs?"

"Enough to build a 'ouse wiz zeir bones!" Lumiere smiled morbidly.

"What made you change your mind?" Gabriel finally asked, a suspicious quirk shaping his eyebrows. One that now seemed all too familiar.

"Your education is very important but…..Zere is more to life zen slaving away over ze dusty books. We make a compromise, non? I do not wish for you to end up un'appy 'ere because you never got to just be a boy."

"I'm almost a man now, you know?" Gabriel stood up a little straighter and tilted his chin as if it would make him look taller.

"Oui….I can see zat now." A melancholy entered Lumiere's voice that was as out of character as it was sudden. "It came too quickly, I zink….."

Gabriel hadn't a notion of what to say to that and so he just nodded his head which prompted Lumiere to again smile at the boy and lead him to the table. "Come, I will teach you 'ow to tell a foreign noble to go to 'ell in such a way zat 'e will accept it as a compliment. Very useful for diplomacy."

Gabriel gave a barking laugh and sat down amiably for his lesson.

* * *

"Are there stories here about you?"

Adam looked up from the book he had been considering on the sofa where Marie and he sat that evening. She was slightly sprawled across her side and she looked at him expectantly.

"What do you mean?" He asked with a small smile.

"Stories about beasts like you. There must be tales of your history."

"Are we to believe there are more creatures like me in the world?"

"Are there not?"

"Not that I have ever heard."

She frowned a little and it made her whole face look dark. "That seems so terribly sad."

"Why?"

"To be the only creature like you in the whole world. Do you ever get lonely?"

Pouring his soul out to her would not do. "Not when I am with you."

She smiled and looked away at the piles of her own books at the foot of the sofa.

"Flatterer." She murmured but a blush had started to creep into her cheeks.

"In truth, My Lady, I would not wish this existence on any other creature."

"Why?" She repeated his previous question.

"To look the way I do... There isn't a place in this world for creatures like me. I am lucky...to have so many people who can accept me. However, it is not natural to care for... when faced with someone.. _thing_ like me. I blame no one for flinching away."

Marie looked down at her hands with shame coloring her eyes. She could not say she didn't do exactly that when she met him.

"I do."

"You shouldn't..."

"But I do. The world sometimes seems so unfair"

"More then you know. But there are a very many wonderful things in it."

"Like you."

Adam did not know what to say to that. He could only gaze at her and wish and hope and despair at how close they would always be to the edge but never able to fall over it.

"I would not have described myself in such words." He finally said in a low voice that tended to serve as his whisper.

"I wish you would."

"Then we both wish the same thing for each other."

"We seem to have more in common then I previously believed."

"I always knew that."

She smiled again and he was charmed to his core by it. "So...no stories written of you at all?"

"None written."

"But?"

"There is one that I could tell you. One that I know by heart if you can stand to listen."

Her visible eye lit up and she nodded her head vigorously. "I would be delighted."

"I have a condition though."

She paused curiously and looked at him. "What is it?"

"Well, you see, this story is quite fantastic. It's about a creature like me and how he became something better then himself. To tell you, I need to see your face. Your real face."

She froze and a hand immediately went up to her scarf. "Why?" she asked with voice trembling.

Adam stepped the tender ground softly. "I have never told this story to anyone. It is sacred to me. I want to see your face when I tell it. All of your face. All that makes you who you are. I cannot do it when you are so hidden."

"But...It is not such a face as anyone would want to look upon, My Lord."

"But I do. If you can look upon my face and see something worth caring for, why cannot I?"

This seemed to immobilize her and she searched around for any kind of excuse. When she could not find one he leaned over and she watched him warily as he gently, ever so gently, unwrapped the scarf from around her neck and delicately unmasked her face. It was so much fuller then the last time he saw it that it made the scars seem less pronounced. But they were there. Red and puckered covering half her cheek, down across her eye and onto her neck. The spot where her ear had been was run through with enough scar tissue to cover the spot and he wondered how well she could hear from that side of her head.

Through it all she did not look away but when the scarf fell into her lap she clutched it fiercely. Tears seemed to be forming in her eyes and with all the care in the world he softly ran a paw over the side of her face that was damaged.

"So beautiful." He whispered to her and as slow as the centuries she leaned back in her seat and looked at him through both her eyes and began to relax as if whatever she had been afraid of was finally leaving her body.

In return, he also leaned back against the arm of the sofa and with a small sigh began to tell her his story. "Once upon a time, in a land that would seem far away but could easily be just in the next room there was a beast that lived in a shining castle..."


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43**

 **Holy Smokes! Time just gets away from me! I meant to get this in a little sooner but I am trying to fix a bunch of things and revamp the story. Your continued patience is appreciated.**

 **SC-Thank you so much! I am so glad the last chapter touched you so. It touched me as well and I greatly enjoyed writing it .**

 **Writeyourdreamstheywillcome- As always your reviews are so well thought out and full of so much for me to think about. The thing I ran into in the last chapter is that the original movie so so stinkin' beautiful that you really can't beat it. I figured what we picture in our heads is far more beautiful then anything I could describe in writing. But I appreciate the critique. There are so many characters I am trying to represent that sometimes is does come as a cacophony when too many are vying for attention at once.**

 **Guest or L.E. (who posted for the last chapter)- Thank you! Gush away, my friend!**

 **CC- OMG! I read your review and was blown away! I have to tell you that I have been struggling with ideas on how to fix the ending of this story and your review gave me an idea. I have to write the chapter out but when I post it I will be sure to give you a shout out. You were the one who inspired it. So thank you!**

 **ALRIGHT, as for this chapter. I struggled with it. It was a labor of love. I think I rewrote it about six times in hopes of making it just the right amount of dramatic without being too ridiculous. Obviously things couldn't go on as sweet and wonderful as they were. Too many secrets and tortured pasts were bound to get in the way. But hopefully it unfurls in a beautiful way and I hope you all stick with it. This chapter leads very directly into the next one.**

 **Not much else to say about it except I hope you enjoy. The detailed reviews I have received from this story are a work of art in and of themselves and I would ask you to continue if you can. They really have made this process a joy for me.**

* * *

 **"The Beauty and the Tragedy" Trading Yesterday**

 **Watch your step, love is broken**  
 **I am every tear you cry**  
 **Save your breath, your heart has spoken**  
 **You already have my life**

 **For I am finding out that love will kill and save me**  
 **Taking the dreams that made me up**  
 **And tearing them away**  
 **But the same love will take this heart that's barely beating**  
 **And fill it with hope beyond the stars**  
 **Only love**

* * *

"I want them all dead!" Adam roared into the room as valet, butler, major-domo, and his Master of the Hunt frantically carried out several actions at once. Water was run in while bandages were being tossed from person to person. Unable to come up with another solution, Monte began to cut his master's bloodied trousers from his haunches as Adam growled and flinched at every snip.

Mrs. Potts was the only one brave enough to get close to Adam's claws and had started the slow process of washing the blood and mangled fur out of Adam's own coat. He was in as bad a shape as she had seen him in and she wondered what he had been thinking at his age. She voiced as much as she gently picked up bits of rock and debris out of a large gash in his arm.

"I didn't do it on purpose, Cordelia!"

"Then why did you take on the whole pack!?"

"I didn't! They ambushed me. Apparently they remembered that one occasion when I ate three of them. They came back for revenge!"

"They aren't that smart, Adam." Chip interjected as he continued to hand his mother clean cloths and change the water after it became filthy and red with blood.

"You weren't there!"

"It's getting warmer and they are hunting more. The snow might actually start to break through soon and we'll be able to transport food and supplies from the village."

"Not if the wolves eat everyone that comes through the forest. I mean it, Chip! I want them all dead. Send out your best men!"

"More of us would die than them by the time we were even able to track them down."

"Cowards!"

"There, there, there now..." Chip drawled in a bored voice as he came to the other side of Adam's bulky body so that he could hold a leg down while stitches were administered.

"You're going to be in bad shape for a while." Mrs. Potts murmured as she smoothed over some of the fur that had been trimmed so that the stitches could pierce through his thick coat.

"Great." He snorted in response. "Then what am I going to tell Belle when..."

Everyone froze as he uttered her name aloud and then realized his folly. He gripped Mrs. Pott's arm and looked around at all the curious eyes that had heard his slip.

"I mean Marie...Marie. What am I going to tell Marie?"

Mrs. Potts took a deep breath and smoothed the paw that was clutching her arm in alarm. "Nothing. You don't have to tell her anything. You'll just have to stay off that leg for a few days and resume your regular schedule when you're more up to it."

Adam leaned his head back in disappointment at the thought of not seeing her for even a few hours, let alone a few days.

"You could tell 'er zat you had a mighty battle defending ze territory of ze castle from invaders." Lumiere attempted to be helpful.

"There was a Tom cat down in the kitchens that used to do that. Mangy thing was missing an eye and everything." Chip attempted to be very unhelpful with a smile.

"Thank you, Chip." Adam responded sarcastically.

"You're entirely welcome." Chip responded.

The chatter came to a stop as Adam was submitted to ministrations while they cleaned and sewed his wounds shut from his unfortunate run-in with the wolf pack. Bottle after bottle of his best brandy was poured over his skin to clean and disinfect. He roared and snarled and then eventually let out a few whimpers as the exhaustion set in. Closing his eyes, he thought of her beautiful face with its scars and quirks and smiles. It didn't steal away the pain but it was an effective distraction. The very thought of not being able to see her that day froze his heart and he turned his face towards the wall and tried not to think of it.

When it seemed that Adam was going to survive the attack with his gashes and bites he was settled into his bed and given some laudanum to dull the pain in his head and body. He downed it with port and relished in the warm liquid spreading through his gut. The room around him was covered in blood, fur and bandages. It looked like the scene from a murder and he was impressed with the maids as they cleaned and scrubbed without so much as a flinch.

Mrs. Potts sat with him for a long while after everyone left and he was grateful for it. If she hadn't, he might have been tempted to crawl across the castle to Marie's room so that he could see her that day. When sleep began to take him, his former nursemaid leaned over and kissed the crown of his head, avoiding his horns. "I never thought Marie was nearly a good enough name for her either. You call her Belle all you like, dearest. It belongs to her."

And before he could form a muddled, drunken response she had left the room and he had slipped into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Days and days later, Adam entered the library with the assistance of his Valet and his Butler. Marie stood immediately from the table she had been studying from and looked at the Beast in horror.

"What happened to you?! They told me you were unwell and I have been worried sick!"

Adam glanced at her ruefully as he was deposited into a chair near the fire. "I got into a fight with the kitchen Tom cat. Nasty creature is missing an eye and everything, you know."

"If that is how you look, I would assume the poor brute is in pieces."

"On the contrary, he escaped with nothing but a scratch. He's much more vicious then we've been led to believe."

Marie's concerned expression was starting to melt into a smile despite her annoyance at the avoidance of her questions. "My my, that does make you sound delicate, doesn't it?"

"Like a wilting rose." he responded with a wince as he pulled his tail out from underneath him and laid it across his lap. He dismissed his helpers and settled in. She approached him cautiously and made a seat in an arm chair next to his own. When he did not speak and simply stared at the fire, avoiding her expression she began to feel self-conscious.

"We've missed you these past few days. Gabriel tried to break into the West Wing to see what happened to you."

"I'm glad he didn't." Adam responded with a tired sigh. "I've been a bit of a mess these last few days. I wouldn't want you to see me that way."

"What way?" She asked, all curiosity.

"Like an injured animal."

Without realizing what she was blurting out, she spoke. "But, you are an animal."

She watched as the Beast visibly absorbed her rude comment. He turned his face further away from her so that now she couldn't see his eyes at all.

"I know." he murmured mournfully. "But you do not need to know, nor see, exactly how much that is true."

She wanted to take back what she had said. Who was she to say it when she looked the way she did? She was once again visibly reminded of how naked she felt without her scarf but she had promised him that she wouldn't wear it when he was with her. She just wished he would look at her and explain what had really happened. After ages had passed she was resigned that he was not going to. Her heart hurt at how much she had missed him over the last three days and wanted to tell him so but he had closed his eyes and seemed to be slipping into a sort of sleep. She downed the irrational pain and turned back to her book. Chiding herself for begrudging him some sleep when he looked as torn up he did. It wasn't his responsibility to entertain her, she scolded herself. She was acting like Gabriel. She buried herself in her book and let him sleep the day away.

* * *

Adam opened his eyes to find himself still in the library. He blinked several times trying to decipher how long he had been there. He vaguely remembered coming but he didn't even remember falling asleep. Perhaps he had left his room too early after the fight with the wolves. He yawned so wide it probably looked like a snake unhinging his jaw. He heard her before he saw her.

"You're awake." was her soft words and he jerked in her direction.

"You're still here." he said, startled.

"They brought in food at luncheon. And again, at dinner."

He gazed at the table to see it mounted with enough food for an army. He shook his head turned back to her. "Have you eaten?"

"I have. Gabriel came in twice asking about you but you aren't that interesting when you sleep. Chip came and took him riding in the woods. He said the snow was starting to melt a little early this year."

"Yes...I'm aware..." Adam said stodgily.

She inched towards him with eyes so wide he was sure they would fall out of her head. It was almost strange to realize the she still looked just as intently out of her bad eye as she did her good one. "Your Lordship, about what I said, I am-"

"Would you like to resume our story?" He interjected before she could apologize.

She kept her mouth open for just a fraction of a second while her brain caught up with what he had said. She had missed his story so desperately over the last few days that she had almost started telling it to herself to fill up time. She finally nodded her head and came and sat closer to him so that they could almost touch.

He started where they had left off. The young heroine of the story had come to the castle and had nursed the injured beast to health after a violent wolf attack. Marie loved to talk about the heroine. He called her Beauty, which she found ironic, and she tried to imagine what she would look like if she were real. After three nights of the stories absence Marie was starved for detail and was surprised when the Beast just seemed to know what she wanted to hear. He started to explain life at the shining castle with the Beast of the story and how the pair spent their time together. It sounded so comfortable and easy that Marie almost didn't hear the change in his voice. He started to sound...softer. As if she could pick out a real human voice underneath the timbre of his deep bass. The way he talked about the girl, Beauty, was like one would talk about their children, or their lover. More gentleness then she thought he was capable of. For the second time that day she spoke before she thought.

"What was she like?"

The Beast looked at her as if daisies had started to sprout from her head. Clearing his throat, he arranged his face into a more pleasant expression. "What do you want to know?"

"It just seems like...you might have known her. This...Beauty."

"It is just a story, My Lady."

"But it feels real. What was she like?"

"She was..."

"Don't say beautiful. It would be far too ordinary."

The Beast actually ducked and smiled and she was charmed by it. "Well, she was anything but ordinary. She was curious and stubborn. It sometimes drove the Beast to fits when she was so bent on getting her way."

"Those don't sound like very pleasant characteristics."

"Ah, but remember that she was taming a wild beast. They are priceless characteristics for that sort of task." He paused as if trying to pick out just the right words. "She was intelligent and wise. More than wise, even. And she was...kind. Even in the face of those who would harm her and cause her pain she showed kindness. She could see through the ugliness of the world for what it could be."

Marie breathed deeply and tried to picture this person. "My, she does sound like a fairy story. Too good to be real."

"Just so, my lady..." Adam said rubbing his breast pocket of his coat. He had been doing that all evening.

"What made her so special to the Beast in your story?"

Adam gave a sad sigh and shrugged his massive shoulders. "She was different than anyone he had ever met. Unique and…. brave. Absolutely fearless. She would have to be in the face of living with the Beast, I suppose. She taught him that he didn't have to be what everyone told him to be. He could choose without fear or rejection or disdain."

"Hmmm" Marie sat back and bit her bottom lip a little.

"What is it?" Adam looked at her with concern.

"Oh…It's just…did she ever make mistakes? Did she ever do anything ridiculous?"

Adam paused for a moment before he understood what she was asking. His memory of Belle was immortalized in its perfection. It was a poor substitute for the reality of who she was in all her perfect imperfections.

"She tripped on her dress a lot. Remember that she came from a small village. She wasn't refined. And…she never seemed to care what colors to wear that would match the seasons. The dress makers of the castle were appalled."

Marie laughed a little. "What color did she wear?"

"Her favorites. She liked blue. The color of blue that hits the sky at first light."

Marie looked out the window at the inky sky and felt a prickling on the back of her neck.

' _How had he known that?'_ Her brain sending warning.

"What else?"

"Hmmm" Adam mused rubbing the hair behind his ears. "She was often late for dinner because she was outside reading or watching the sunset. She loved the sunset….." He whispered, wistfully. "Something about the way the colors blended together at the end of the day. Telling some story only she could read. She adored that and the servants would have to chase her down and bring her inside before she froze to death."

Marie swallowed and then approached the next question more cautiously. She chided herself that these must be common characteristics of a person and had nothing to do with her.

"And what did she like to do for amusement?"

Finally the Beast turned and looked at her suspiciously which was something to behold on a face like his. "Why do you want to know these things?"

Marie shrugged nonchalantly. "I am trying to understand your character."

"What difference does it make?"

"It makes the story seem more real."

He swallowed and looked away as if doing something against his better judgment. "What kinds of amusements do you mean?"

"What people do in their leisure time say a lot about what kind of people they are."

He breathed a little and started to make a list. "She liked to read."

Marie thought to herself. _'That was an obvious one… Naturally his character would like to read. He has more books than one could read in a lifetime…..'_

Marie knew she was turning herself inside out for no reason. It made no sense to feel so threatened by a fairy story character. She tried to listen to him as he continued to weave the narrative.

"She…..loved to laugh. She would play games with the castle children and was the champion at hide and seek."

A memory flashed in Marie's mind. One of a little girl with bright brown eyes hiding in a water trough.

"She loved horses. She was an excellent rider. She could jump from her horse's back and catch a branch from a tree above her."

As he was saying it, Marie had the uneasy feeling of doing exactly what he was saying the character Beauty could do. Not as if she was imagining it, but as if she was actually doing it. In the darkest places of her mind….she knew she had.

Marie looked away as if willing him to not continue. These were descriptions of herself. Things he could not know. She had been so poor and so destitute that things like riding horses and hide and seek were laughable and yet she had hidden the love of them in her heart from everyone. How could he be describing this character using her secrets? The second option almost seemed worse than the first for if he was using her characteristics to describe the heroine in his story then he was creating a person in her that did not exist. Why would he do that?

"But best of all, she loved roses. She would spend hours in the rose garden with the Beast and they would talk of all the wonderful things she would do someday. She was the perfect story-teller."

Marie's shoulders sank a little into herself and she looked at him as he looked at her. Images of roses hanging above her bed when Gabriel was a baby. The smell of them took her to a place where she was safe when the world around her had only been chaos and nightmares. Roses were her safe place. Now they were some figment of a character in a story. It made Marie feel as if what had made her real was coming undone and now she would become fictional as well.

The Beast's face became a mask of concern and something she couldn't identify. The same feeling you get when you're holding your breath for something to happen. Whatever he found in her gaze must have caused him great disappointment. He turned from her and looked at the stack of books on the end table.

"Perhaps that is enough of that for this evening. Maybe a little King Lear? That seems like a safe subject."

She wasn't sure she understood him, but was glad for the change of topic. She didn't know how to broach the strange clairvoyance he had when it came to her private loves and dreams. They began to read as they always did. Unsurprisingly he fell asleep again but she wasn't ready to stop reading. She needed to escape into the books he had given her. She needed to go somewhere that wasn't this castle with its mysterious Beast who knew her heart better than she did and the feelings that were developing for him that she could not deny.

* * *

Hours after she had stopped reading, Marie watched the fire and the Beast as he slept. With almost no light in the room it seemed like he was all shadows and cut angles. He slept the way Gabriel did. With no touch of even knowing the world was passing around them. So, it came as something of a surprise when he started to whine. It was such a canine sound she almost cried out. He turned his head and whined again and she suddenly realized what he had meant by how animal-like he really was. She couldn't look away as words started to tumble out of his strange mouth and he continued to yip and whine the way a dog would.

"Belle..." he breathed and turned his face again so that she could see the pain and anguish that pulled every muscle as tight as a string. "Belle...please...please...come back to me...Please! Please, don't leave me! Oh God…please don't forget me...Come back...come back..."

He jerked suddenly to the side and gave out a yelp that she had never heard from him, or anything human. All the while he started to kick and whine with fervor. Marie rose from her seat and took herself a safer distance from his thrashing and was surprised to realize that tears had started to fall from her face as soon as she had heard him utter the name of the princess.

There were secrets in this castle. Secrets that could undo them both and she knew that if she got any closer to the fire they left in their wake she would not survive it. She was just one person from a small village. She couldn't bear to watch this poor creature, this creature that called out to her heart, look so sad and defeated. Without waking him she fled the room as fast as her legs could carry her and did not stop until she was on the other side of her stay doors and weeping where no one could hear her.


	44. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44**

 **I am bound and determined to get a chapter out on time this week! And here we are! I have been really busy with life and with rewriting a few of the end chapters, as well as writing a couple new ones. It should lengthen this a little but I hope you don't mind that too much!**

 **First, reviews!**

 **TMNTAnimeDisneyLover- Thank you so much! The fact that you reviewed anything is a blessing and I am very grateful! No review is bad (unless it has nothing to do with the story and is some long drawn out religious rant...that would be just weird...)**

 **Ivy- I am so honored that you reviewed and that this story brings you so much joy. I hope you know that you are loved and needed. I need you and the world needs you. You are more appreciated then you know. I hope you can continue to find joy in your life and know that it is okay not to be okay. Just don't give up. And thank you sooooo much for recommending my fic. I want as many people as possible to read it and I hope that it can get spread around to every Beauty and the Beast lover that I can find.**

 **WriteYourDreamsTheyWillCome- You are amazing! I am so glad this is so important to you! Your reviews are so important to me!**

 **SC- I agree! We need a lot more Chip in our lives. He is like cream to the coffee. He just makes it better! The next chapter after this one is very Chip-centric because of your review, btw. Be soooo excited!**

 **Alright, as for the rest of my notes, I forgot to mention in the last few chapters that this fiction was written before the 2017 movie came out. There are a lot of hints from that particular version but for the most part it follows the original animated classic. So when Adam talks about reading with Belle and whatnot, it hails back to the Broadway version where she helped him become a better reader. I actually love the new Live-Action movie and how they changed that but in this particular version I wanted to showcase how much Belle helped him. And for years I had these head-canons where the reason the Beast wasn't a good reader was because he had a learning disability of some sort. Perhaps even dyslexia. That he spent his whole life being told he was stupid and feeling like a fool when in reality he just needed a kind person to teach him who wouldn't let him believe those awful things about himself. Just thought I would clarify all of this for you.**

 **And in the vein of the last chapter this one is also a bit darker and is building up for a spectacular next few chapters. It was frustrating and intricate and I am glad I wrote it. I hope you enjoy it very much and feel the pain that these characters are feeling because it comes from a very real place.**

 **Have such an amazing week and I will continue to try and post on time!**

* * *

 **"Full of Grace" Sarah McLachlan**

 **The winter here is cold, and bitter**  
 **It's chilled us to the bone**  
 **we haven't seen the sun for weeks**  
 **Too long too far from home**  
 **I feel just like I'm sinking**  
 **and I claw for solid ground**  
 **I'm pulled down by the undertow**  
 **I never thought I could feel so low**  
 **oh darkness I feel like letting go**

 **If all of the strength and all of the courage**  
 **Come and lift me from this place**  
 **I know I can love you much better than this**  
 **Full of grace**  
 **Full of grace**  
 **My love**

* * *

Adam was stiff and irritable the next day. The sun was blazing and though the snow wasn't even remotely clearing from the ground it was starting to feel less like the decent into outer darkness and more like a normal winter that was approaching spring.

He had his bandages changed and took his meals in his room. The nightmares that had plagued his sleep weren't disappearing as they should and he couldn't bring himself to pretend the gentleman that morning. He had only meant to bring in some game from the woods when the wolves had attacked him. He would have liked to have said that he decimated the pack but the truth was he had barely escaped with his life. He had fought the wolves once before, years ago when he had been protecting Belle. Age and lack of real protective motivation had been his undoing and now he had a stitched up hide to show for it.

He made his way to the library that evening in hopes that he wouldn't misstep again with Marie. He needed to be more careful when he told her stories. Perhaps he shouldn't tell her stories anymore at all. He was treading dangerous ground every time he entered her presence.

It took a while to finally find her, standing stock still in front of the portrait of Belle. She was staring at the damnable inscription and she didn't seem to hear or sense him when he finally cleared his throat. She turned slowly and looked at him through both eyes, though he knew she couldn't see him so well on the one side.

"What are you doing?" He asked softly, hoping it sounded conversational and not accusatory.

She looked at him for another moment before speaking. "You loved her, didn't you?"

If he had expected her to say anything it wasn't that. "What do you mean?"

"Princess Isabelle...Belle...you loved her."

Adam cleared his throat again. "Everyone loved her. She was a well admired woman."

She shook her head impatiently. "But you _loved_ her. You didn't just admire her, you loved her."

Adam shifted uncomfortably and looked away from her accusatory gaze. "I don't know what to say."

"You haven't denied it yet."

"What brought this on?"

"I heard you...last night when you were sleeping. You called out for her. I've never heard anyone say a name the way you said hers."

Adam opened his large snout for a moment and then closed it. She had heard his nightmares. What did he say?

"Does it matter?" He finally said still looking across her shoulder at the portrait.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what? How would I explain something like that? You said so yourself, you didn't know her."

"But all this time you have spoken of her, you never say anything about yourself. Who you are and who you were."

Adam felt like the air in his lungs was slowly seeping out of him and he couldn't seem to replace it.

"She was a princess. Married to the prince. Beloved by everyone and died the most tragic and horrible death I can conceive of. It doesn't matter who I am or was. She is..."

"Dead...?"

"Dead!" He spat out before he could stop himself. In that moment it all hit him in full force. He was so angry with this woman in front of him. He was so very angry he could fly into a rage and feel justified. How could she stand here and torment him with these questions when it was she who was causing all the agony of his soul and hadn't the slightest notion?

When neither said anything she seemed to grapple for a moment before saying what was clearly weighing her down. "The heroine in your story...you are describing her. She isn't some figment of your storytelling. It's meant to be Princess Belle."

Adam sighed impatiently. "It is just a story, My Lady. It means nothing."

"Then how do you know her favorite color? Her love of roses and laughter? How do you know that?!"

"Because you asked me to tell you!"

"No, it's because you knew her. You knew her better than anyone. But, Lord Beast- "

And for a moment she stopped and gripped her fingers together and looked mournfully back at the painting. She was steeling herself to say something painful. Something she couldn't change no matter how much she wanted to.

"...I am not her."

He turned away and gripped his paws in kind to keep from upsetting a chair he so desperately wanted to.

"I know that!"

"Do you? You tell a story of a beast that is being tamed by a woman who comes to his castle and they become the very best of companions. But, Your Lordship, I am not a beautiful maiden with a golden soul. Damaged beyond repair, and I cannot be your Beauty. And I don't mind." she lied and neither believed it. "I don't mind being who I am. But you do."

He couldn't help it, the chair had to go. It clattered into a pile and Marie took a startled step back. In her mind, her Beast had never displayed any behavior that would give her any idea that he really was how he looked. In less than twenty-four hours she had realized how easily she had taken him for granted. And, without any more provocation, he had her by the shoulders. He was not rough or out of control but it brokered no argument about where her attention should be placed. In the entire time she had known him, this was the most familiar he had ever been with her.

"Look at me! Look at what I am! I am not that beast in the story any more then you say you are not my Beauty! I am not that beast because he is not a beast at all! He was man; a prince! That was the whole point of the story. He was a prince who had become a beast and she came and saved him! She saved him from himself because she could see that there was a man inside him. Someone worth saving. But look at me!" He gasped for breath as if the words were coming out like knives shredding his throat. "I am not a man! I am...a beast. I am a monster and I will always be a monster!"

She could not stop the tears from falling down her face and was surprised to see the trembling sob that was starting to escape him as he continued to hold her and she continued to hear him.

"That is why it is just a story! A stupid pointless story for foolish creatures like me!"

He directed his roar at the floor but she could still feel the vibrations as it ran down his arms and into her shoulders. He took a stumbling step back and it was the first time she had seen him look clumsy. So much pain crossed his alien features and all she could do was weep and stare at him as he curled his claws out and heaved air through his tightening lungs.

"If you...if you found yourself being described it is only because you are much more like her then you could have ever realized. If finding out that you are more than the person you keep trying to convince me you are not upset you, then I apologize...I shan't force my childish, stupid stories on you again. Please forgive me, My Lady."

And before she even knew what was happening he lowered himself down onto all fours and stalked out of the library in such a foreign way that her voice caught into her throat and she was paralyzed from everything that had just occurred. When the door slammed shut she sank to the floor and that is where Mrs. Potts found her, clutching a book and leaning against the portrait of Belle as if the other woman could tell her the secrets that could possibly fix what had just happened.

* * *

"I know you quarreled."

"We didn't quarrel." Adam murmured as he crouched on the railing of his balcony.

"Then why haven't you gone to see her in three days." Mrs. Potts said with more than a little sternness.

"I needed to think."

"It is her, Love, It's her. Perhaps it's time to tell her the truth."

"Actually," Adam said as he twisted around to gaze at his people with a softness that had not been there before. "It's time to do the right thing. Belle, the Belle we have made up in our minds since she left isn't the same Belle we know now. She isn't coming back. This...beautiful...woman that we have now... is a prisoner here. She can't remember and we are wrong to try and force her to. But she does have a home and someone who loves her. Almost as desperately as I do."

"Isn't that enough, that you love her and have this chance to start over." Cogsworth said taking a step towards his Master.

"I cannot start over when I cannot be honest about the past. She deserves better than that."

"What would you have us do then?"

He sighed deeply as he always did these days and looked at his butler. "Lumiere, I need another favor from you."

Lumiere gave him a grave look as if in warning of the last time Adam had asked him for a favor. "What is it?"

"I need you to go to Molynoux. I need you to go and fetch him and bring him back here. Only tell him of my curse returning. Don't mention her until I've had a chance to explain."

"And if 'e will not come?"

"He will come. Remind him of our shared grief and he will come."

" 'E is very old, Sire. Are you sure ze trip will not kill 'im?"

"Tell him he has something to live for. Please, please do this for me, my friend. She deserves to be with a family that loves her."

"We love her." Mrs. Potts whispered sadly.

"But it wasn't enough. It will never be enough."

"Are you sure you wish to do this? Surely they are happy here."

"Would you ever be entirely happy never knowing where you come from?"

"But this is where she came from." Cogsworth said as if giving a last effort to make him believe.

"She was only here a short time. A beautiful and magical short time. But I cannot be selfish. She deserves to know who her father was. Who she was before she ever stepped into my cursed life and a tragic death that she didn't deserve."

"But do you deserve to be without her again?" Cogsworth looked at his Prince who seemed much more like the boy he remembered and would save him from any more pain.

Adam gazed at them all and looked as if he would break in two. He lowered his head and breathed heavily but nodded his head and there was nothing else to be said.

All of his Heads of House nodded and turned to go out the door they had come. If Lumiere was to leave in the barely broken snow he was going to need a great deal of the supplies that they had left. As he cleared the door he caught Chip's arm and pulled him into the corner of the doorway, just far enough away that he was certain Adam would not overhear.

"Pack your zings. You are coming wiz me."

"What!? Why?" Chip looked around to see if this was some sort of ambush.

"You know zis countryside better zen anyone 'ere. I need you!"

"But I don't want to go to Molynoux!"

"We'll be making a stop in Lautrec first."

"Lautrec, why?"

"You and I...we're visiting a bordello."


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45**

 **Darlings! I am so sorry this took so long! The time got away from me! Life is so busy sometimes, I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long.**

 **To SC- This chapter was inspired by your comments. I am actually very proud of it so enjoy!**

 **CC-I love your review so much! Every time you review I read it over and over and love all your attention to detail. Never stop! They're amazing!**

 **Alrighty, folks! This chapter is very different from others i have done. We're taking a bit of a break from Adam and his drama. I worked really hard on the dialogue here and so that is really the main feature but hopefully it's still enjoyable to read. I didn't edit as carefully as I normally do because I just wanted to get it out there. I hope it's not too bad but if it is...maybe don't mention it too much. I am trying.**

 **There is a lot of back story here as well as Chip and Lumiere playing detective which I think sounds like a cool story all on it's own. Those two constantly steal the show. Please review as much as you can and I will for sure post a chapter next week. Love you all!**

* * *

 **'The Story" Brandi Carlile**

 **I climbed across the mountain tops**  
 **Swam all across the ocean blue**  
 **I crossed all the lines and I broke all the rules**  
 **But baby I broke them all for you**  
 **Because even when I was flat broke**  
 **You made me feel like a million bucks**  
 **You do and I was made for you**

 **You see the smile that's on my mouth**  
 **It's hiding the words that don't come out**  
 **And all of my friends who think that I'm blessed**  
 **They don't know my head is a mess**  
 **No, they don't know who I really am**  
 **And they don't know what I've been through like you do**  
 **And I was made for you...**

* * *

The mud on the roads was thicker then quicksand. Chip and Lumiere cursed each other the entire way to Luatrec. When they finally made it to the inn they were frozen through to their bones and covered in muck and wet from the miserable weather outside.

"We're going to kill the old man before he gets halfway to the castle!" Chip grumbled and removed his boots for the serving girl to take and be cleaned. He felt a little guilty making a servant clean up after him when in reality...he was a servant. But as they were on business for the Prince it was to be expected for them to be waited on.

Lumiere settled into a chair in their shared room with a tired sigh. "I am getting too old for zis..."

"I'm still not sure why you couldn't have just taken Luis. He knows this countryside just as well."

"Luis would not be so adept at what I needed to do." Lumiere said pulling some parchment out of his satchel. "Now, tell me ze exact location of zis bordello."

Chip put one leg over the side of the chair. "As far north as the boundaries of the village. It sits on a manor along the river. Unfortunately when you head in that direction most know where you are going."

"Zen zay can know where we are going. It is no never mind to me."

"Hmm, the proprietress of this particular establishment will require payment and a lot of it. I hope you came prepared."

"Money is not an issue."

"She's smart. If you want to avoid scandal I would suggest we use caution with the questions we ask."

Lumiere studied Chip for a long moment. He pictured the boy as he was. Young, slightly chubby, with a gap in his teeth that made his words whistle. Soft blue eyes the color of robin's eggs and an easy smile. It was strange to see that same boy talk of a bordello as if it was as common as speaking about the weather.

"And 'ow do you know so much about zis particular bordello?"

Chip gave his superior a funny look and snorted a little. "Where do you suppose my son came from? I didn't give birth to him myself. As much as I would have preferred that over what actually happened."

"What did actually 'appen?"

There was a beat while Chip gazed at Lumiere in surprise. "You don't know?"

"Non," Lumiere said ruefully. "It was a secret between Adam and your mozer. I assume, from what you 'ave said, zat you and zis bordello 'ad a mistep?"

"Not this one, but they all start to become the same, don't they?" Chip sighed a little and rubbed his face with both hands before continuing. What was the point in concealing it anyway?

"I made a mistake. I was being stupid and reckless and I knew it. Adam had allowed me to apprentice with Master Jon Claude and I thought I was invincible. Rising above my station. Managing to get out of the kitchens when I never thought I would. I didn't realize that when you play with fire you will inevitably get burned."

"Hmmm" Lumiere made the sound of the truly interested. " 'Ow old were you."

"Eighteen. But it started earlier than that."

"And Master Jon never zought to pull on ze reigns a little?"

"Oh, he was right there beside me. You see...when I finally left the kitchens, went on the hunt, it was like nothing I had ever felt before. I was free! We weren't under a spell and I didn't have my mother or Adam or Cogsworth hounding in my ear. It was just me. I felt...I felt older then I was..." Chip looked down at his hands with a touch of shame.

"Because of ze spell?"

"Yes. I was seven years old for ten years! It does something strange to your head, you know?"

"Oh, yes, I _do_ know." Lumiere said with meaning.

"I suppose I wasn't as...prepared for the world as I thought I was. It was all so pleasant. So exciting! The ride, the chase. The hunt was a madness in me. I could ride on my horse and hunt every creature that came across my path and then I would turn around and hunt out the strongest drink, the most amusing diversions and the most sumptuous companionship."

Lumiere gave a soft little smile and looked away from the boy's confessional.

"I thought that because I was learning much about... what they had to offer I understood love. I understood truth and beauty. I believed I was finding something great and powerful in the same way I had witnessed the love between Adam and Belle."

"Ze love between Adam and Belle started when he locked her fazer in a tower and zen allowed 'er to take 'is place. You are only looking at ze parts after she forgave 'im for zis. Which is a miracle 'e did not deserve."

"Try telling that to me at eighteen."

They both chuckled a little before Lumiere broached the question he had wanted to ask from the beginning.

"So, who is William's mozer zen?"

Chip sighed and leaned back hard into his seat. "I don't know her real name."

"Zat is unfortunate."

"Just wait until I have to explain it to my son. He isn't going to believe the fairy stories for much longer."

"What did you call 'er?"

"Beautiful." Chip answered with charm.

"Ah, but zey all are zat. It is why zey are 'arlots, you know."

"Yes, I do know. We weren't in the area for longer than a few days. I had given her my entire month's wages and in turn she had given me..."

Chip blushed a little and didn't continue that sentence, choosing to skip over the parts he couldn't admit to without entertaining the memories. "She wasn't stupid. She realized quickly who we were and I, drunk and intoxicated with the sight of her, told her all about me and my master and the Princess Elizabeth and our life at court. It was a very pleasing few days."

"I can imagine."

"After we left I thought on returning at some point to visit her again. Like a dog returns to his vomit. I had no idea how stupid I really was."

"She found you first."

"She came to the castle like a war lord bearing the head of her enemies. She went straight to Adam and told him of my indiscretion. In front of my mother and my Prince, she told them everything I had done with her and then showed him my infant son."

"Are you sure 'e is yours?"

"Even Adam was sure William was mine. Apparently he looked exactly like I did as a baby. She said that if I did not provide recompense she could not be held responsible for what would happen to the baby."

"Not very mozerly, zis beautiful 'arlot of yours."

"I don't blame her. It is not her profession nor her desire to be a good mother. It was in mine to be an honorable man. Unfortunately, I had nothing to my name. Not a scrap. I couldn't pay her demands and I watched as she clutched my crying baby as if she was going to kill him right then and there."

"What did our noble Prince do?"

"He paid her, more then she would ever be able to make in three lifetimes and took the baby from her before she could demand more. He sent her on her way with all his usual threats. I will...never be able to forget that look of disappointment he gave me as he held my son."

Chip fell into an odd silence. As if talking about this again was making it fresh and painful once more. "I would not have disappointed my Prince for the wide world."

"Ah, well, to be fair 'e 'as done a fair few disappointing zings 'imself. Hm? Don't feel too badly."

"He would not appreciate the comparison."

" 'E is not 'ere. And besides, it was probably a good distraction for 'im from 'is own miserable marriage."

"Has he been so very unhappy this whole time?"

"No, I do zay 'e loved zat slip of a Princess wiz every piece of 'is broken 'eart. But zat was never good enough for 'er."

"And what of you? How do you not have an army of bastards roaming the castle?"

Lumiere's smile could have charmed the pants off the devil. " 'Ow do you know zat I do not?"

They both sat in companionable silence after that, with each breaking into soft chuckles every once in a while just because the conversation was both so raw and so amusing at the same time. It seemed, to Chip, like a good omen. Though he could not have told you why.

* * *

Lumiere had to admit that the bordello was not nearly as seedy as he had assumed it would be. Both himself and Chip were immediately ushered into a private sitting room and were faced with a formidable woman with a red smile and a steely gaze. She introduced herself as Madam Cartier and she sipped wine from a bottle like a common drunkard but with so much finesse that one would think it was the new fashion to do so for ladies.

"Gentlemen" She purred as they both took a seat.

"Madam." They both murmured back.

"And what do I owe the pleasure of the Prince's royal huntsman and...?"

"My father." Chip answered promptly as he turned a head towards Lumiere.

Madam Cartier gave a shrewd look and let her gaze slowly walk all the way up Lumiere's body. He found it maddeningly flattering and smiled blatantly at her. Two could play at this game and he had a far greater advantage then Chip.

"I don't see the resemblance." She commented.

" 'Tis subtle, Madam." Lumiere responded back.

She smiled again at him and then crossed her legs so that everything from her thighs and on down were showing. "A father and son outing? How charming! I assume you don't wish to share a room. Unless that was the point." And with that last insinuation she gave a wicked wink at them both.

Chip could have gagged at the idea of watching Lumiere work his way through a brothel. But he bit his tongue and tried to adjust his face into a charming configuration.

"Tempting as that sounds, we are here on business."

"For the Prince?"

"Of a private matter, I'm afraid."

"Ah, well that does sound enterprising." She gave them both a look of such meaning that they actually darted a glance at each other. Without a word, Lumiere pulled a brown satchel from his shoulder and poured its contents out onto the table. Coins of every variety tumbled in a heap and Lumiere started flicking several back into the satchel.

"It is if you tell us what we need to know." He said with equal amounts of meaning. If Madam Cartier understood anything it was money. She sat a little straighter and adjusted herself.

"What can I do for you gentlemen? I am at your service."

"My...son tells me zat you 'ave been ze proprietor of zis...establishment for a long time."

"Indeed. Nigh onto twenty-five years. Your son does seem to get around to...establishments like mine."

Chip looked at her affronted as he had not been to visit a bordello since the conception of his son. "I'll have you know-"

"What my son does in 'is spare time is not ze matter at 'and. But it is good to know your memory is as keen as it ever was."

She seemed to accept this compliment as she ran a few fingers across her lips and raised an eyebrow. "Indeed."

"We are looking for information about someone who may 'ave visited 'ere...perhaps zirteen years ago."

"My my, that is asking for me to look very far back for one lusty man."

Lumiere flicked another coin into the satchel. "Who said I was asking about a man?"

"One of my darling girls?"

"I desperately 'ope not." He picked up another coin and held it over the satchel. It was a large gold piece and it glittered in the light.

"Who then?" The Madam did seem a little perplexed now.

"A young woman. Not much older zen a girl. Full to ze brim wiz child. Perhaps damaged and even quite mad. Does zis bring back any memories?"

Recognition dawned on the lady proprietor's face. Lumiere continued to dangle the gold coin over the satchel.

"She does sound familiar. Anything else about her that could help me identify?"

Lumiere sighed and dropped the coin into the satchel and tossed a few more in for good measure.

Madam Cartier gave a little shiver like a school girl. "Ah yes! I do recall now. The crazy washer woman who did our laundry said she pulled the poor creature out of the river. It was all very exciting really. They came to our door with the girl on the back of a cart looking like a ghoul from a nightmare, all the blood and missing ears, you know."

"No, we don't. What did you do with her?" Chip felt his patience waning with the ridiculous woman in front of him. He wondered what he had ever thought when he had first started patronizing places like this, with women who only seemed to see in silver and gold.

"Well, surely I don't know, my sweet. My memory must not be as good as we thought." She feigned rubbing her head and Lumiere grasped a handful of coins and dumped them into the satchel.

She clapped her hands and leaned forward conspiratorially. "The washer woman seemed quite upset by the whole thing. Mind you she was mad as a bee. Imagine doing the washing of a bordello for twenty years."

Both men thought on it and gave her equal faces of disgust. "What was she upset about?" Lumiere prompted.

"Oh, she was so very afraid the girl would die. She acted as if it was her own child."

"And?"

"And she lived. My daughters are soft hearted and doted on her like a wounded kitten. Fed her broth and bathed her as if they had nothing better to do. I can't say our clients weren't put out."

"Who did she zay she was?" Several more coins went into the satchel. They were on a roll and must not lose momentum.

"Well, that's the thing, isn't it? She was entirely out of her wits. She screamed and cried out for something she called 'Beast'. I'll never forget it. I was certain she was senseless."

"But you helped her?" Chip gripped the table just enough to give meaning.

"We did our best. She must have been something of a beauty before half her face was torn off. Probably by this beast she kept screaming about. She stayed for a while before the mad bat washer woman who found her came and paid her debt and took her off our hands."

"What debt?" Chip asked in alarm.

Madam Cartier gave the boy a look to indicate what a fool she thought him. "She was entirely unsuited for our kind of work. Her face scared away any high paying customers and the ones that would have her demanded that she keep her face covered. In the end she refused everyone I brought to her that might have fetched a price. Must have gone frigged when she lost her mind. If there is no work done, there is no food. She racked up quite the bill for herself."

Lumiere and Chip glared at the woman in front of her but said nothing. Arguments of her cold calculations of an injured, half-mad girl would not get them the information they needed.

"So, she never...she was never one of your..."

"Harlots? No. Kept her thighs firmly clenched. No matter, I doubt anyone would have her now, if she is still in this world."

"You'd be surprised." Lumiere said dubiously.

"No doubt. Has the ugly thing turned up? When my washer woman made off with her I had to find a new one with the money she gave to pay us off."

"What happened to the child?" Chip finally blurted out, knowing that was the real reason they had come.

"Well, you can't think I have him."

"Him?"

"Of course! The woman came in bloody and squalling and that boy of hers slipped out of her almost before she was in the door. All my girls were there to watch. And it left such a mess."

"And he lived?"

"You seemed surprised by this. Of course he lived. He came out scowling at everyone and it was all I could do to keep all my girls from falling madly in love with the little beast. Last thing I need is a house full of pregnant whores."

"But he lived." Chip said with satisfaction.

Madam Cartier again leaned forward, her ample bosom exposed to the top of her nipples. "Why? Was he special?"

"Why would 'e be?" Lumiere asked her coldly, his questions answered and no need for pretense required. " If 'e mattered wouldn't 'e 'ave been missed? Doubtful 'e would have been born in a bordello if 'e was."

"True." But the woman did not sound convinced. Without another thought Lumiere scooped up the remaining coins and poured them into the satchel. Enough coin to purchase a second bordello with plenty left over. Madam Cartier looked at it hungrily as Lumiere stood and took the satchel between his long slender fingers. He walked to the corner of the table and sat upon it, one arm on either side of Madam Cartier.

"We were never 'ere. My son is not nearly as acquainted wiz your establishments as you zink... _but I am_. And I promise, Ma cherie, zat you will cease to be ze proprietress of anyzing if I 'ear one word about what we came 'ere for."

"And if someone comes asking about you?"

"You tell zem zat you and I shared a room and it was ze best you ever 'ad."

"That confident in your...prowess, are you?"

Lumiere leaned down until they were almost touching and smiled. "Oui."

And without another word he grabbed his coat and Chip and they left the room with only a cordial bow.

As they made their way to the waiting sleigh that would take them the rest of the way to Molynoux, Chip patted down the horses and joined Lumiere in the driver's seat.

"It's nothing we didn't already know, right?"

"Oh, of course. Gabriel could be a copy of ze boy Adam was before ze spell. A changeling set upon us from faerie realms."

"Why won't Adam believe it?"

"Because if 'e admits zat ze boy is 'is son, zen 'e must tell 'im so and I don't zink 'e is ready for zem to be zat disappointed in 'im."

Chip paused for a moment. "If it was me and I found out my father was alive I would...I would give anything to be with my father again. Anything."

"Well, zat is what we must convince our Prince of, isn't it?"


	46. Chapter 46

**Chapter 46**

 **Guys...Guys...I just realized that there are only like...a dozen more chapters in this fic! Even with the additions! OMG Enjoy this so much while we are still here!**

 **SC- I am so glad you enjoyed that chapter. Aren't Chip and Lumiere the coolest? I aspire to be as cool as them.**

 **TMNTAnimeDisneyLover- I love your review! I am so glad you are enjoying this and thank you for sticking with me this long!**

 **Okay, so this chapter pulls my heart and cuts me to the bone. I can't be the ending... because the story can't end like that! However there is a semblance of closure in this chapter. As if a piece of the story is coming to an end to make way for...MORE!**

 **I loved the symmetry of religion in this chapter and how the two main characters balance each other out. I also like the idea of how Adam wouldn't be the obvious choice to be the religious one. And Belle not be as religious. At least when she thinks she is Marie. It makes for an interesting mirror to one another.**

 **Well, other then that PLEASE enjoy and PLEASE review. I will be at Disneyland this week and thinking about my cute fic that you are all enjoying and hoping that you'll let me know how much you do!**

* * *

 **"Not About Angels" Birdy**

 **We know full well there's just time** **  
** **So is it wrong to dance this line?** **  
** **If your heart was full of love** **  
** **Could you give it up?**

 **How unfair, it's just our luck** **  
** **Found something real that's out of touch** **  
** **But if you'd searched the whole wide world** **  
** **Would you dare to let it go?**

 **'Cause what about, what about angels?** **  
** **They will come, they will go, make us special**

 **Don't give me up** **  
** **Don't give... me up**

* * *

Marie swallowed hard and looked around herself at the unfamiliar walkway. She was on a mission and it terrified her. She would have given just about anything to turn tail and run. But the days seemed to linger on interminably without any relief and if she was to be the woman she wanted to be she must make the amends necessary to continue forward. Life was so very uncertain for her. Like crossing a rickety old bridge blindfolded. You never knew if the next step would break through and send you plummeting to the depths below. And even if you made it to the other side you were still blindfolded and had no map to lead you to the next location. Wherever that was.

Clutching her parcel to her chest she pulled her scarf closer around her face and continued to the large entry doors where she had been instructed to go. It had come as a surprise to hear that, after much wheedling, her Lord Beast could be found in none other than the castle chapel. This creature she desperately wanted to spend all her time with was so full of mystery that it shouldn't have lifted an eyebrow to hear he was religious, but it did. Perhaps because she couldn't find religion in herself if she tried.

Coming to the doors she pushed them open to reveal a depressing dimly lit chapel. It was interesting to her that it didn't seem all that intricate. By chapel standards it was fairly boring. That was, perhaps, why she caught sight of the Beast right away. He wasn't kneeling, per se, as she wasn't sure he could with his anatomy but was crouched in front of the alter. When the doors burst open to spill light into the dark little room both the Beast and a squat little priest raised their heads and looked at her as if she were a dark angel that had appeared out of thin air. The priest leaned over and murmured something to His Lordship without looking away from her in fascination. The Beast nodded to whatever was asked and turned his body to face her, still on all fours. With caution she approached him as one would any wild animal. His features were hard to read but his eyes were nothing but mournful. In the days she had not seen him she had half expected for him to have drastically changed into something or someone she didn't recognize but he was still her same beast. It made the separation all the more disappointing. Her guilt mounted at the sad, horrible conversation they had had and it spurned her into action.

"Cogsworth told me you would be in here."

"He was sworn to secrecy. How did you get him to talk?"

It was meant to be lighthearted but his voice sounded so small and sad that she almost didn't catch it. "I told him I would start moving things around the castle at random so that he could never find them." The right corner of her mouth quirked just a little.

"You are truly cruel. The man is pushing into his sixties. Do you wish to give him a heart attack?"

"Only to find you."

"Well...you found me."

"Indeed. Have you been here this whole time? What were you doing?"

The Beast considered her for a moment. "Confessing."

"I'm so sorry I interrupted."

"You didn't. One can confess the same sins only so many times before it's redundant."

"I wouldn't know."

"You've never gone to confession?"

"I've never dared. I don't think God would want to hear my prayers."

"If He will listen to the prayers of a beast, He will listen to yours."

"You are so sure He hears you? Knows what you need?"

"He sent you to me. I _know_ He hears me."

She was speechless, as she always was at his declarations. Looking anywhere but those beautiful blue eyes, she gripped her parcel tighter. "I need to apologize...to you..."

"For what?" he asked plaintively.

"For picking a fight. For bringing up painful memories for my own selfish reasons. For scaring you away."

"You didn't scare me away."

"Then why have you stayed away?"

"Because you were right...about everything...You always have been. And I didn't know what to say anymore."

"Then don't say anything." She nodded and placed herself on a bench very near to where he was crouched. He watched her warily as she spread out her skirts and opened the parcel she had been holding.

"I wrote you a story." She answered to his questioning stare.

"You wrote _**me**_ a story?"

"I ruined yours and I want to fix it. So I wrote you a story in return."

"You didn't have to do that."

"Yes, I did." Was her abrupt response and he watched with rapt attention as she opened the parcel and then, giving him a knowing look, removed the scarf from her face. He breathed in deeply at how lovely she looked and he couldn't help but twitch at the desire to touch her soft, albeit short, hair. The way her full cheeks dimpled on the side that wasn't scarred and her eyes crinkled a little at the corners now that she was a grown woman.

"Well," he said settling down on his haunches deciding there was no more point in keeping up pretenses. "I must listen, then."

"Rightly so." She responded with a brilliant smile and he was so happy to see it he could have burst. She pulled out the pieces of parchment she had labored over in the library for hours. Her fingers were still stained with the ink from her quill and she noted with dismay that several of the words were more smudged then she had realized, but she soldiered on regardless.

"Once upon a time..." She started and paused as if she were embarrassed and looked over at him. He only smiled with his eyes as much as he could and nodded encouragingly.

"Once," She began again. "There was a girl. She lived in a small village. She had a wonderful son and a roof over her head. She lived a quiet life of sewing and mixing herbs for the local apothecary. She didn't much care for it but it kept her son fed. And every night she would dream. She dreamt of a life very different from her own. She dreamt of adventures and magic. She dreamt of a little old man with a mustache and strange metal contraptions that snapped and whirled at her. But most of all she dreamt of a prince. Every night she saw him in her mind. She dreamt of his smile and the way he would kiss her goodnight. She dreamt of reading by his side and holding his hands as he swept her into his arms. She dreamt that she was in love and that there was someone out there who loved her. She dreamt of adventures they would take together and the love that they shared for the world around them and for each other."

Marie's voice broke and her face turned a vibrant pink as she gripped the pages intensely. The same tension sat in Adam's shoulders as he realized that this story was her own version of a confessional. He was seeing how every step she had taken had drawn her back to this place where they had met. How much suffering had she endured to admit these truths to him? Never knowing that he held the key to the puzzle but could never share it with her.

"But when she woke up it was just a dream. She was still just a girl from a village with a fatherless son and nothing to call her own. Never able to escape, never free. But in her heart she knew she was more. She just had to find a way to those she knew would love her if they could just find her. Her life had to change somehow. Then it did."

She stopped again. Her voice had broken before but now it flooded with emotion. She kept trying to speak even though the tears had started to fall and it choked her into incomprehension.

"Sometimes…..sometimes it was all she could do not to give up. Sometimes it was like torture. She knew there was something better out there but for reasons she could never understand she had to be separated from it. She had to be strong when she didn't always feel strong."

A soft sob caught in her throat and she looked up at Adam as if to convey what she could not say. Without hesitation Adam reached his paws out and had Marie by the elbows. With the gentleness of a cloud he enveloped her in his arms and she lowered herself into his embrace on the floor. Still holding her parchment she continued though she could no longer see the words on the page.

"It would seem like it couldn't get any worse when she found herself at a dark castle. She thought, surely she couldn't go any lower. She was wrong. She was so wrong. About everything! About herself and her son. About the castle and the people who lived inside. The person she met looked like a beast and frightened her but he wasn't. He was really an angel. She was rescued by a castle full of...very strange looking angels." Adam's rumbling chuckle startled her and a half laugh, half sob escaped her throat as she buried her face in his waistcoat.

"I'm not sure if this beast is me...but I wouldn't go so far as to say I am an angel."

"Shhhh!" Was her watery reply. "I am telling the story!"

"My apologies."

"The truth is, this girl, had nowhere to go and no plan but to put one foot in front of the other. If it hadn't been for her beast, her dearest friend, she would be lost. And she realized that it didn't matter that the prince didn't exist or wasn't coming. It didn't matter what those villagers thought of her face or that they took her house. She had a friend and a perfect son and a castle full of strange angels who cared for her."

She shifted herself in his arms, hardly seeming to notice that she was literally surrounded by his entire beastly presence. She looked up at his face and gave a ghost of a smile. "You brought me back to life. I cannot tell you what that means to me and to my son. Can we please be friends again? Can I have you back?"

Adam opened his mouth to tell her. To tell her the truth and just as the first words came to his lips she uttered one last thing. "I am sorry for ever having compared myself to your Belle. It came from a place of loss. I didn't want to lose you when you realized I could never be nearly as wonderful as her. But if you will let me. I would stay here with you forever and be your friend. May we stay with you?"

Adam again closed his mouth and pulled her closer to him so that her head sat underneath his neck, right next to his fluttering heart. "I'm not much of a companion. More like a lost boat adrift."

"Then can I be your anchor? And you mine? And we can drift together?"

"If that is what you wish. I would not be without you if I could. Though, there may come a day when you must go where I cannot follow."

"Then I will be content with not knowing and never going."

Adam smiled with so much sadness that if she had a clear view of his face it would have broken her heart. But her face and head rested against his chest as she clutched his arm and that is where the conversation ended and the long night began as they stayed in one another's company unable to move forwards, but refusing to go back.


	47. Chapter 47

**Chapter 47**

 **Oh, my dears. As always, I apologize for the lateness. Too much happening in a short amount of time in my life. I can't believe how quickly this is going and I guess I just want to drag it out a little longer.**

 **There is little to explain in this chapter except that it is getting the ball rolling hard and fast. You just have to love Gabriel. I love writing about him almost as I do writing about Chip.**

 **I am bringing a favorite into the story that hasn't been present the entire time but obviously was always a big part of the story. Hope you enjoy reading a familiar face.**

 **I hope that as you are reading you are collecting all of your favorite things and gathering so many things to comment on. I would love to hear all of your thoughts as we get on with it. R &R**

 **Thanks for everything you do!**

* * *

 **"Do What I have to do" Sarah McLachlan**

 **What ravages of spirit**  
 **conjured this tempestuous rage**  
 **created you a monster**  
 **broken by the rules of love**  
 **and fate has lead you through it**  
 **you do what you have to do**  
 **and fate has led you through it**  
 **you do what you have to do ...**

 **And I have the sense to recognize that**  
 **I don't know how to let you go**  
 **every moment marked**  
 **with apparitions of your soul**  
 **I'm ever swiftly moving**  
 **trying to escape this desire**  
 **the yearning to be near you**  
 **I do what I have to do**  
 **the yearning to be near you**  
 **I do what I have to do**

* * *

Gabriel could not find his mother. He gave a heaving sigh and turned around another corner to head in the direction of the library for the third time. Surely he was missing her somewhere and he desperately wanted to talk to her. Everything had been turned upside down for weeks and they needed to find a way to fix it. His Lordship Beast had been conspicuously absent from their lives for what felt like eternity and Gabriel needed to figure out how to bring everyone back together. He knew that it was his responsibility and that His Lordship would be proud of him again if he could just figure out what had gone wrong.

Then to top it off, both Chip and Lumiere had gone missing and he needed their advice, dearly.

Gabriel strode into the library confidently. The fire was out and the room was as chilly as it had been the last two times he had come in. He was grateful for the warm clothes His Lordship had ordered made for him. His shirt and breaches were soft and comfortable and his day coat and vest were made from the finest fabric. If one had never met Gabriel they would have assumed him a little prince-ling, gallivanting around his ancestral home.

"Mother!" he called out for her and the library echoed in response. He tried several times before resigning himself to stalking the rows of books and alcoves to see if she had come in here and fallen asleep. He squinted into the dim light from the windows and made his way over to his mother's favorite haunt. He could always count on her and His Lordship being there, reading and studying together. His face fell when the very spot came into view and was as vacant as it had been before. He stood for a moment gazing at the piles of books and notes that had been left there before all the trouble started. He sighed deeply and turned to go when something caught his eye. He walked further into the alcove and gazed up into the face of the portrait that hung there. He had looked at this portrait several times and the others like it that dotted the castle. It was a portrait of the former Princess Isabelle. Gabriel had heard all about her. Everyone spoke of her as if she were God Himself. To be honest, Gabriel had been far more interested in learning about the knights and princes of this castle. Even of the Prince Adam who he had saved from the cliff side.

The portrait sat flat and vague looking as it always had. Except that this time he was certain he had seen his mother looking back at him. True, this woman smiling down at him had long chestnut hair and smooth unmarked skin. But his mother had gained weight and in so doing had changed the very shape of her face and body. The woman in the portrait was younger than his mother and he knew that it must be some kind of trick of the light. And yet….. he was sure that the portrait had changed to look like his very own mother. Perhaps His Lordship had changed it?

Just as he was reaching out to touch the canvas he heard the distinct sound of pounding horse hooves. Forgetting his strange thoughts on the painting, he raced to the window and looked down at the bridge to see the royal carriage riding up with Chip and two guards taking up the rear.

Giving a whooping holler, Gabriel took off out of the library like a bullet.

"Chip!" He shouted into the corridor. "Chip is back! Chip is back!"

His feet took him barreling down into the corridor and leaping down the stairs two, sometimes three at a time. When he flew into the entryway, shouting Lumiere and Chip's name, he almost came to a tumble as he caught the two men helping an elderly gentlemen in. Gabriel had to lean forward to stop himself and his shouts were echoing their names for several seconds after everyone came to a halt. Gabriel raised himself into a standing position and appraised the scene in front of him. Chip had his arms around the older man and Lumiere had a guiding hand out to keep them all walking forward. Everyone looked stunned at Gabriel's entrance.

"Who are you?" He asked the older man. He wasn't surprised to see the gentlemen well dressed. What he hadn't expected was the look of sheer astonishment at seeing Gabriel. He was looking at the boy as if he were looking at a ghost.

"Gabriel," Chip's voice actually held just an edge of warning and it alerted the boy to his continued rudeness at every turn. "This is His Lordship's esteemed guest."

"Guest? He knows about His Lordship?"

Everyone shifted uncomfortably. "You do as well? But you are just a boy!" looked The Esteemed Guest looked at Lumiere in horror.

Something about the old man's voice hit Gabriel in the heart. Like a needle driving itself into the crevices that Gabriel still didn't understand. He prickled a bit and stood up straighter.

"I'm almost thirteen, sir."

Lumiere reached out a slender hand and placed it reassuringly on Gabriel's shoulder. "Maurice, zis is Gabriel. 'E 'as been staying wiz us for...ze season."

Several meaningful looks passed between the three men in front of Gabriel. The old man, Maurice, took a shaky step in Gabriel's direction as if he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. "But what are you doing here, son?"

Lumiere stepped between them, knowing this could end very badly with Maurice's curiosity and Gabriel's propensity for speaking everything that came to his mind.

With a low voice, Lumiere looked into Maurice's confused eyes. "Mon Ami, 'E will explain zis but we must let 'im know you are 'ere. I promise you will understand."

Maurice nodded in frustration and allowed himself to be pulled away from Gabriel's painfully familiar eyes and features.

"Pleased to meet you." He murmured as they passed Gabriel.

The boy heard Maurice lean over to Chip and whisper in that loud way that the elderly think no one else can hear. "But Chip, my boy, he looks just like Adam. How is that possible? What has happened here?"

* * *

Adam sat in the dim light of the West Wing listening to his own breathing. After the previous evening he had spent the morning dozing in front of the window until he saw the carriage arrive with his father-in-law being gently brought inside. He changed into a jacket of a deep plum color and his valet ran a brush through his mane. He waited and waited and every time Cogsworth returned to tell him that Maurice was ready, he put them off saying that Belle's father should be allowed to nap, eat, relax in his room. It was late in the afternoon before he finally agreed to be seen.

He heard Maurice's heavy breathing far down the hallway and rose to his hind legs and stood in front of the balcony window. There was no gasp or exclamations. It was only Maurice breathing and standing somewhere in the entry of West Wing.

"Maurice, Your Highness." Cogsworth announced and Adam heard him leave with only Maurice still inside.

There was nothing said for so long that Adam started to feel the hair on his neck tingle. He slowly turned himself around and looked at the short, older man in front of him. It was a strange sight for him. In his mind, Maurice had always just been an older man. He didn't seem that much different from the first time he had ever seen him. Snowy hair and smiling eyes. He looked at Adam with those eyes and Adam could do nothing but look away. He gazed down at the carpet, his hands still behind his back and his neck strait and shoulders tense.

"Say something, please."

"Lumiere explained to me what you did."

"Are you ashamed of me?" He had no idea where the question had come from. He must be losing his entire mind because words like that kept tumbling out of him without his ability to stop them.

Maurice seemed to soften, as he always did and shook his head a bit. "Don't you believe that if I had had the option I would have done the same for Belle?"

At the mention of her name Adam tried to swallow but his damn vision was going blurry and he couldn't seem to see or think. It was one thing for the household to murmur her name like their daily prayers. It was quite another for this man to mention her.

"I'm afraid my own daughter will never get the chance to know why her father had to leave her. But I hope she knows I did it all for her."

"And your wife?" Maurice asked with effort to keep his face neutral. He had always been a little uneasy around Elizabeth

"She's gone. And she's not coming back."

Maurice took a step in Adam's direction and it made breathing painful because if Maurice started to pity him then he wasn't sure he would live through it.

"Oh, my boy, I am so sorry..."

"Why have you stayed away?" Again Adam had no idea how those words had escaped him, nor the childish tone that had somehow entered his deep beastly voice.

Maurice made his way to the sofa and slowly lowered himself into it with a groan. "I suppose because I am old. I'm a burden to your family and I don't belong here."

Adam looked long and hard at Maurice. "Was she the only reason you forgave me? And once she was gone so was that forgiveness?"

"Oh, Adam, I didn't stay away because of a fifteen year grudge. I stayed away because I wasn't as strong as you. I couldn't reconcile losing my only child and watching you live your life. I couldn't and you had to."

"If you had been here you would have seen how very wrong you are."

"I never thought I would live to see you like this again. What are you going to do?"

Adam shrugged his huge shoulders and shifted his weight, tail flicking erratically. He tried to come up with a witty remark but he couldn't. Not with Maurice.

"I don't know...I'm lost, Maurice...I...I'm lost..." And to his utter horror he started to weep. All of the last few months came pouring out of him. His loneliness and loss of Elizabeth. His daughter and her illness and how he ached being away from them. Becoming a beast and trying to remain human inside his inhuman body.

Somehow he had made his way to the couch and sat close to his father-in-law's side. He dared a glance up at the older man and was surprised to see gentle understanding and a soft smile.

"You are going to make it, my boy."

Adam had thought so long on this moment and what he would say when it finally got here. But now that it was here he was finding it hard to ruin the peace of this quiet man in front of him. How to explain what had happened and his own stupid part in it.

"I don't think so...not this time, Maurice."

"There must be something that can be done."

"And risk the safety of Rosamund? I will choose death first. I only wished it had not been at the expense of my marriage and...what I am about to do."

A small look of fear entered Maurice's eyes and Adam looked away in shame at his clawed paws.

"What are you going to do?" Maurice's voice was calm as he gazed at Adam intently.

"Something I don't want to."

"Then why are you doing it?"

"Because...you deserve better...she deserved better... Everyone deserved better than me!"

"What else has happened?" The alarm in the older man's voice had risen just a trifle and Adam finally looked back into his father-in-law's eyes.

"Maurice...I found her. Well, more appropriately, she found me. She doesn't remember who she is and she has a son but...she's here. She's alive."

The room went very still and neither moved for an age. Maurice looked hard at Adam for a long time trying to determine what he was talking about.

"Who?"

With a deep swallow Adam nodded his head in affirmation. "Belle...our Belle...she's alive."


	48. Chapter 48

**Chapter 48**

* * *

 **Hey everybody! I'm mostly on time for posting a chapter! I blame winter lasting too long. I need spring in my life. Anyways, here is another gut wrencher for you.**

 **First I would like to give a special thanks to SC and CC. I read your reviews a little after I posted the last chapter and I ugly cried a bit. You never know what people need in their lives and at that moment I needed those positive affirmations. I would still post chapters because I've come this far, but I would not feel nearly as good about it as I do. You inspire this story and I appreciate it so much.**

 **This chapter is fairly self explanatory. This is what we call a build up to the climax. So stay tuned for that. I am very excited about next weeks chapter and am busy making some last minute adjustments and adding a couple more chapters to the mix. When I wrote this I left a lot of stuff untouched that I am now having to go back and fill in the holes in the ending a bit. It's a good thing I didn't just post this thing all at once.**

 **I hope you all have a great week and tell your friends who love Beauty and the Beast. I've come to really love this little thing as much as I do any of the actual published Beauty and the Beast story. It has heart. Even if it isn't canon.**

 **Review really do equal love.**

* * *

 **"Come Back When you Can" Barcelona**

 **You left your home**  
 **You're so far from**  
 **Everything you know**  
 **Your big dream is**  
 **Crashing down and out your door.**  
 **Wake up and dream once more.**

 **Come back when you can.**  
 **Let go, you'll understand.**  
 **You've done nothing at all to make me love you less.**  
 **So come back when you can.**

 **Come back, I'll help you stand.**  
 **Let go and hold my hand.**  
 **If all you wanted was me, I'd give you nothing less.**  
 **So come back when you can**

* * *

It was a long time that the Heads of House waited outside the West Wing. The pain and sorrow that must have transpired in that room could be felt far down into the corridor. Whatever it took for Adam to convince Maurice the truth of what he was telling him left them both in a right state and dinner ran inexcusably late. They both entered with Marie and Gabriel seated and waiting for their host's appearance. The moment Maurice walked into the room he stopped and didn't seem to be able to continue forward. He stared at Marie with a look of horror and wonder on his face.

Adam placed a comforting paw on the older man's shoulder and murmured "Courage." into his ear.

"How do you bare it?"

"I remember that I owe her everything and I bare it. Please, follow my lead and trust me."

"I won't be able to conceal the full truth from her forever. I cannot lie to her forever, Adam."

"I know it. But please give her a chance to have a normal life before filling her mind with things she will never be able to remember. Please, give me the chance to rescue her from this."

"Very well, my boy, I will trust you. Though I don't know how this can possibly be."

They both slowly made their way over to the dining table where Gabriel and Marie stood and looked at Adam expectantly. "Forgive me. I didn't not mean to keep you waiting. You must be hungry."

"I am!" Gabriel voiced with enthusiasm. He hadn't seen His Lordship in an interminably long time and was excited to resume where they had left off.

"Please, sit." Adam gestured to their seats. Maurice seemed to be frozen on the spot and Adam knew the old bean wouldn't last much longer without breaking down. The need to speed up this process was baring down on them. He gestured to Cogsworth who helped guide the elderly man to his chair.

Both Marie and Gabriel watched Maurice with growing alarm as his shattered face continued to stare at Marie's scarf until she looked away in embarrassment. The food was served and Gabriel tucked in with his usual reckless abandon. Between bursting mouthfuls he chattered to Adam about his day and peppered him with questions. Finally the conversation came around to Maurice who had not moved to so much as to lift his fork.

"So, your name is Maurice, huh?"

The question startled the old man so much he jumped and looked at Gabriel as if he had just realized he was present. Maurice looked to Adam with wide eyes and his son-in-law nodded with encouragement.

"I am."

"Where did you come from?"

"Gabriel." Marie warned "We have not been properly introduced."

At the sound of her voice the tears started to spill down Maurice's face. If he had doubted Adam's incredible story before he could not do so now. Everyone shifted uncomfortably at the blatant emotion pouring down Maurice's face.

"It's alright." He muttered trying to compose himself as he rubbed his napkin over his face. Then giving Gabriel a watery smile he put out a hand. "I am Maurice and I come from Molynoux"

Gabriel smiled back amicably and took the older man's hand. If anything could be said for the boy it was that he was just as friendly and accepting as he was forthright and blunt.

"And I am _Master_ Gabriel." He spouted proudly.

Maurice's smile grew. "Yes, I know."

"Do you live in a castle too?"

"I don't..." Maurice gave a questioning look to Adam again and then continued. "Just a plain old manor. The Prince...has been very generous to me and mine."

"The Prince?" Gabriel asked with suspicion.

"Indeed. It seems you more than I. You live in the famous Chateau de la Rose. And I am very, very pleased to meet you."

Marie shot the Beast a questioning look and tried to read his alien features. He gave her a sad smile in return as he listened to the conversation between grandfather and grandson.

Gabriel turned to Marie and smiled broadly. "And this is my mother, Monsieur Maurice. She is the most beautiful woman in the world!" He said it so matter-of-fact that Marie had the grace to blush deeply and look down at her untouched plate.

Maurice turned his eyes back to her and they filled with tears once more. "Indeed, she is."

"How do you know the Prince?" She asked tentatively. She was clearly confused on the appearance of this strange weepy older man at the table.

Maurice looked at a loss for words when Adam rescued him. "The Prince owes our guest a great debt. They have been long friends for many years."

She nodded as if accepting this but her eyes still held a level of confusion. "What brings you here, Monsieur?" She finally voiced what had been hanging in the air the entire meal.

No one spoke until Adam finally turned to Marie and gently took her hand in his paw. It was such an intimate gesture that the servants couldn't stop looking at their intertwined fingers. "I need to tell you something."

The worry lines in her face deepened and she tilted her head up to see his eyes. "What is it?"

"You are not what you think you are."

She looked from side to side at the staff and at Gabriel who was enraptured with what was transpiring between his mother and His Lordship. "What do you mean?"

"Everything you've believed for the last...fifteen years has been a lie. You are the daughter of... a good friend of the Prince. He lives in a manor in Molynoux. He lost his daughter fifteen years ago and believed she was dead. He didn't know what happened to you. You were never what you believed. Your father...he wants to help you remember who you are."

The tears had come down in earnest on Maurice's face and it was making it hard for Adam to continue. Marie turned and looked at the older man and then back to Adam.

"How can you know this? How can you know who my father is?"

It was Maurice's turn to rescue Adam. "I would know you were my daughter if I were blind and dumb. You look exactly like your mother."

Marie shook her head and it moved the scarf on her face just enough to reveal some of her scars. She pulled her hands away from the Beast and fixed it self-consciously. Gabriel's mouth hung open a little as his eyes darted around the room taking in the scene. When Marie spoke again her voice shook violently.

"The metal contraptions. The ones that spun and moved of their own accord? What were they?"

It was a test. The only part of her memory that laid intact of this man with the white mustache, like the one in her mind.

Maurice softened as he realized what she was talking about. "Before the Prince gave me the manor I was an inventor. I...built machines to sell at local fairs."

"And the horse. The one I used to ride across the meadows on?" Her words were small as if coming from the body of a child.

"Philippe. He died a little after...you did."

She trembled so hard that Adam couldn't help but reach over to her to help keep her steady but she leapt away from him as she had done the first day she had met him.

"Why...why...why didn't you come for me!? Where were you when I was brought to the bordello?"

Gabriel cocked his head to the side not understanding what a bordello was or what she was talking about but only hearing the distress in her voice.

Maurice looked shocked and turned an angry face to Adam who hadn't realized so much truth would come out. Neither knew what to say and since Maurice was already proving to be a terrible liar, Adam knew he had to step in.

"Your husband looked for you everywhere. For years he believed he would find you-"

Her eyes had become so large they seemed to cover the expanse of her face. "My _husband_!?"

"What is happening, Mother?" Gabriel asked, becoming just as agitated as her.

"We can explain." Adam responded helplessly.

"You knew who I was. You _know_ who I am? You've known this entire time!" Her voice was taking on a breathy quality and Adam worried she might faint.

"I didn't, not until after Gabriel ran away."

"Who am I!?" She clutched at herself as if she were trying to keep from falling apart.

"Maurice will tell you. He's your father."

"You should have told me! You were my friend! I thought you cared about me!"

Adam scooted forward in his seat but refrained from standing for fear she would take the gesture the wrong way. But the words that tumbled out of his mouth were uncontrollable and he wouldn't have taken them back if he had tried.

"I do care about you! I care about you so much its killing me!" He paused to take a gasping breath and then finished what he knew he could not go back from. "I love you. I always will."

Time stood still as the entire room took a collective breath and froze in place. And somehow Adam knew that she was not seeing the refined gentleman she had been pretending he was. She only saw the beast her eyes told her he was. He knew and if he had much of a heart left to break it would have shattered at the look of confusion and remorse on her face. Without another word she fled the dining room and even when Gabriel called her back she didn't turn or veer from the course she was on.


	49. Chapter 49

**Chapter 49**

 **Alrighty, folks! This is ONE of the chapters we have all been waiting for. There are still quite a few chapters after this one but THIS. THISSSS IS IT!**

 **I am so excited for you to read this! I am so freaking pumped. I got so many great reviews this week and I just can't wait any longer to post this for you! I wish I could just post the next ten chapters but then it would be over too soon and I'm not ready for that. So just know that there is so much more to come but enjoy this crazy climax for what it's worth.**

 **I cannot thank the loyal reviewers enough. I love your emotional responses! They touch my heart and match how I feel about the chapters. I am so glad you are on this emotional roller coaster with me.**

 **This chapter may have a few more grammatical errors then usual. It was fueled by emotion and very little spare time.**

 **Please give all the reviews you can muster but know that there is some REALLY REALLY REALLY great stuff coming as well.**

* * *

 **"Back to Forever" Lissie ( I heard this song when I was shopping for jeans one day and have not been able to get it out of my head since. That was like...three years ago. I might even hazard to say that the image in the garden was what this song triggered first. Before any of the rest of the story was formed. So, credit where credit is due. This song might actually be the catalyst for this story. Enjoy!)**

 **It used to go slow,**  
 **But now it's so fast**  
 **It melts like the snow,**  
 **Christmas midwest**  
 **Time lapses years just drift away**  
 **But I always said that I'd come back someday**  
 **to be laid down**  
 **Take me back to forever**  
 **That's where I was born to be**  
 **How'd I end up in this land of never**  
 **Only memories**

 **In this spot.**  
 **This exact spot**  
 **Is where I'd hide until I got caught**  
 **And this place, this is my place**  
 **And homes all I got so**

 **Take me back to forever**  
 **That's where I just long to be**  
 **How'd I end up in this land of never**  
 **Only memories**  
 **Oh my memories,**  
 **they come back to me.**  
 **Oh my memories.**

 **Won't you come back to me?**

* * *

"Are you sure about this, my boy?" Maurice stood at the entrance to the castle looking at Adam's bloodshot eyes and downcast shoulders.

"This is how it should be, Maurice. You know it and I know it."

"She will ask questions that I will not be able to answer. What shall I tell her?"

"You saw her last night. You saw what happened."

"I saw two people separated by a horrible accident and are desperately trying to find their way back to each other."

"This is how it should be, Maurice!" He repeated a little more forcefully. "This is how it should have always been. You of all people know the kind of misery coming to this castle brings. How you must wish you had never come here. How much better your lives would be if I had stayed in the shadows and allowed you to slip away without ever knowing I existed."

To Adam's surprise Maurice took the fur covered arm on his right. "Now you listen to me, boy!" He craned his neck to look into Adam's face. "You are my son and I love you. I regret nothing and I fully expect to see you again very soon. Whatever you choose to do. But never, ever question my regard for you and what you did for my Belle. What you are _still_ doing for her."

Adam was speechless and overcome with more emotion then he was comfortable with. Before he knew it, he was crouched to Maurice's height and embracing the old man with as much gentleness as he possessed.

The moment was broken with footmen hauling both Gabriel's and Marie's trunk to the carriages waiting to take the party back to Molynoux. The solemn figures of Marie and Gabriel followed in fine cloaks lined in fur. Marie's mournful eyes followed Adam as she stopped and gave the most demur curtsy before making her way down the steps to the carriage and was lifted in. Gabriel looked stoic and unhappy as his mother disappeared inside the carriage.

"I don't understand. Why are we leaving? You said we would never have to leave." His voice was accusing and Adam wished he could have explained everything to this boy he adored as he would his own son.

"I know it seems wrong now. But you will understand soon. I promise, my boy, I promise." Adam held up a paw for Gabriel to take but he didn't. He only looked imploringly at Adam's face and when it did not yield the answer he was looking for he made off down the stairs in a rush and into the carriage with his mother.

It took a moment for Adam to lower his paw as he watched the carriage door slam shut. Maurice put another comforting hand on Adam's outstretched arm and patted it gently. "It will be alright in the end, my boy. I promise, I promise."

With a sad sigh he put his arm to his side. "Not for me, but perhaps for her." And without much else they made their way down the stairs to the carriages where a footmen helped Maurice into the same one that Marie and Gabriel resided.

Everyone waited for Adam to give the go ahead for them to leave. It was still very cold outside and they needed to get started if they wanted to make it to the next village by sundown.

He hesitated as the feeling of deja vu washed over him like a tidal wave. He must let her go. The words sat on the tip of his tongue. He knew he would never see her again. But then, that wasn't a new feeling. Twice he had lost her and thought that he would never see her again. And twice he had somehow lived through it. He wasn't foolish enough to believe that this would be any different. That was his curse; to always have to let her go and hope that somehow it would turn out alright.

The carriages sat underneath a massive trellis. Though winter was unwaveringly bitter and lasting, roses grew in all their splendor. It was a magical part of the castle that Adam had always admired. Reaching up a paw he plucked a fat red bloom from its vine and approached the carriage. The door was still open and he peaked inside to see three sad faces looking back at him. He searched for words before finally laying the rose in her hands and looking into that beautiful brown eye, one more time.

"No matter where you go or who you become, please, don't ever forget me. And know that you were the reason for my life. Even if you never knew or understood why."

Marie's eyes were full of tears and she took the rose in her hand and looked at its petals until Adam closed the door with a swish. She never did look up as the carriage rolled away from the castle. However, Gabriel did and his mournful eyes stared at Adam long after he had disappeared from sight.

* * *

The rose was a thing of beauty. It was a masterpiece of nature and she touched its soft petals lovingly as tears continued to stream down her face. She looked across the carriage at the older man that said he was her father. He genuinely seemed to look at her with admiration and love, which she found disconcerting and strangely familiar at the same time. She closed her eyes and wished more then she had ever wished that she could go back to being whoever she was before. Whoever they all believed she still was.

She pressed her nose into the center of the Beast's rose. Breathing in deeply, she felt the rich scent of the flower fill her up.

And just as the sun rises over the crest of the mountain, so did her memory come rushing back.

She saw, as if a scene played out before her eyes, all the missing puzzle pieces come together. She saw a small village and a farm house. She saw her massive horse, Philippe. A girl who read books and longed for friends and adventure so much that she cried herself to sleep when the lonely days became too unbearable. She saw her father creating wonderful machines to help with daily chores and his enthusiasm for science and knowledge that fueled her own passion to learn. She saw him leave for the fair. Her own flight into the woods to save him. She saw a horrible bargain struck with a terrible monster hiding in the shadows. She saw talking candlesticks and teapots and a chipped teacup with a penchant for sneaking into her room at night. She saw snarling wolves and breaking ice as this same Beast rescued her from what would be a terrible fate. She saw slashed fur and a broken creature that in turn needed saving. She saw a beautiful peace created between herself and the Beast as he gave her his library, a friendship she so desperately needed, and his heart. She saw long evenings reading in front of the fire and beautiful conversations over the dinner table. She saw a yellow ball gown and a release from her bargain made. She saw villagers pour into the castle and kill her Beast. She felt like her own heart was breaking all over again. How she had realized she loved him too late.

Then, when it seemed her head would explode, she saw him. Him, with his big shoulders and mane of reddish gold hair. Him, with his uncertain lopsided smile and perfect kisses. Him, with his tendency to trip over his own feet and snarl like the beast he was when he didn't get his way. She saw him as he was to her. Her friend, lover, man, prince, and beast. The one to tease her in the library, argue with her over the dinner table and make the sweetest love to her in the quiet of their private sanctuary long into the night. Those blue eyes that stared balefully out of the Beast's face now looked at her longingly through his eyelashes. She knew him. He was hers.

Her head snapped up so quickly, as the visions swirled in front of her eyes, that she felt she might faint. Her heart started to fly out of her chest as she gasped in physical pain at all the memories. Her father looked up at her in alarm. And he was her father! She knew him. His name was Maurice. He married a woman named Rosamund who died in his arms when their daughter was very little. He was older and so much more fragile then she remembered but it was him!

"What is the matter? What is wrong?" He reached over the seat to touch her but didn't quite, for fear she would not like it.

She breathed heavily as if seeing him for the first time and whispered through swimming eyes. "Papa?"

Maurice looked at her long and hard and tried to ascertain if he had heard her right.

"It's me. What has happened?"

She shook her head violently and squeezed the rose until its head threatened to pop off.

"Papa..." she whispered again.

With tears in his voice he finally connected his hand with hers. "Belle?"

Her name was like cool water on a burned surface. She gasped again at the release and gripped his hand back. "Belle, is that you?"

She nodded her head, unable to breathe through the feeling of knowing her own name. Her real name. Then, as if all the air were blowing out of her she met eyes with her father once more.

"Adam!"

Maurice's face registered exactly what she was feeling. He raised his cane and hit the top of the carriage forcefully. "Stop! Stop! Stop at once!"

The wheels creaked as the horses were reigned in and Gabriel had to grip the wall to keep from being toppled out of his seat. "What is happening, mother?!"

Maurice shoved the door of the carriage open, with the castle towers still just visible behind the trees of the country road they stood on. "Go to him!" Maurice whispered. "Don't leave him for one more second! Go to him!"

Marie, who now knew her name was Belle and never wanted to be called Marie again, smiled her first real smile at her father and then alighted out of the carriage. Gabriel cried out in alarm and made to follow her. She slammed the door right in front of him and touched his face. "Stay with your grandfather, you'll be right behind me!"

Then without looking back she took off down the road, grateful at how healthy and fit she had become since coming back to Chateau de la rose. The road was rough on her soft slippers and her massive dress and cape weighed her down but she didn't feel a thing. All she knew was that she had to get back to him.

Back to forever.

* * *

When even the sound of the carriage could not be heard by Adam's keen ears he waited and wished for them to turn around. To come back to him. He chided himself for acting like a foolish child and finally tore himself away from the spot he had last seen her. He wasn't sure how, but he found himself outside the glass house in the gardens. He walked along the rows of dead and withered bushes that had not been carefully trimmed and put to rights before the mass exodus of servants had left the castle once Rosamund had taken a turn for the better. He loosened his cravat and removed his overcoat, hanging it on an obliging tree. He wouldn't need it anymore.

He knew that what he was about to do was foolish. That he would most likely meet an untimely death at the end of a hunter's crossbow, or perhaps the wolves would finish what they started with him. But he just couldn't bare it anymore. He couldn't bare to see her face looking at him the way it had the previous night, every time he closed his eyes.

This was better.

Cogsworth would get word to his uncle. His lands would be safe and he could finally rest from all the pain and hurt. He sat down on his haunches and let his mind relax. The beast inside him would come up as soon as it realized he was no longer blocking it. And he would let it. This time he would embrace the animal and let it stay there for however long he had left. No complicated emotions, no memory of all he had lost. Just dumb, simple, beautiful oblivion.

He breathed deeply and felt his mind slowly start to slip into the recess of his brain where it could rest. Just a few moments and he would make his way into the woods and hopefully, God be willing, he would stay there for the rest of his days.

* * *

Lumiere was just making his way outside. He knew that Adam had walked in the general direction of the gardens and he had a sinking feeling that his Prince needed someone, whether he liked it or not. So it came as a bit of a shock when he heard the sound of pounding footfalls coming back up the road. He turned around to see the flashing pink of a gown as Marie ran like all the devils in hell were chasing her. Her breathing was ragged and once she had cleared the castle gates and was across the bridge she stopped very near Lumiere and bent over to gasp breath and clutch her knees. He was at her side in a moment and just in time as she sagged against him and brushed the scarf off her face as one would an obnoxious bug. Her scars glinted in the sunlight and he could only look at them and wonder at what had come over her.

"My dear Lady Marie, What 'as 'appened?"

She clutched his waistcoat and looked into his eyes with more clarity then he had seen from her yet. "Where is he, Lumiere!?"

" 'Is Lordship?"

She took another gasping breath. "Adam! Where is he?"

Lumiere stood stunned for what felt like ages as she continued to try and catch her breath.

"What did you say?"

She gave him a look of annoyance and tugged at her bodice. "Damn this corset!" She muttered to herself and Lumiere almost laughed out loud. He had never heard anything so vulgar out of Marie but he certainly had out of Belle. "Lumiere, you must tell me where Adam is. I need to find him this instant!"

Without asking for any other explanation on how she could know his name, he took her hand and led her down the garden path he had last seen the Beast go. She rushed ahead of him when she realized where the path would lead. Hitching up her skirts she broke back into a run and disappeared around the castle wall before he could think to keep up with her.

* * *

The darkness was so comfortable. He no longer felt the cold of the day or the weight of pain in his chest. Why had he felt that pain? He couldn't quite remember. He felt hungry and restless and his claws dug into the frozen ground. Dozens of different scents assaulted his nose and he felt his ears twitch in every direction listening to the sounds of the castle gardens. It was the woods he wanted and just as he was about to move in that direction something else caught his attention.

A heartbeat.

It was pounding in its chest so hard it was a surprise the owner did not die of a heart attack. The beast in him perked up and listened intently to the sound. Adam himself tried to encourage the animal to ignore it. It was just another heart beat and he needed to get away from it as soon as possible. But the beast, the beast that he hated and thought just a stupid entity attached to his physical form. The beast that knew him better then he knew himself, also knew that heartbeat. That was _her_ heartbeat. The _her_ that he loved. He would know that heartbeat across time and space.

With violent force he felt the human side of himself thrust to the forefront of his mind and crash against his skull. He kept his eyes closed, trying to will himself back to the place where he didn't feel and was at peace. But the sound reached his ears and the beast in him knew he was never going back to that. That half consciousness of being more animal then man.

"Adam!"

His eyes flew open and focused on the girl with the short mop of hair as she raced up the pebbled path to where he sat underneath the rose arbor.

"Marie?" He said, bewildered. "What are you doing here?"

She stopped just at the line of wild rose bushes along the base of the hill that barred her from coming any closer. He vaguely caught sight of Lumiere racing up the pathway behind her.

"Adam, it's me!" She gasped out clutching a stitch in her side.

He swallowed hard and tried to keep up with what his tired brain was trying to say. "You know my name? How do you know my name?"

"I'm sorry I forgot! I'm sorry I couldn't remember! But I do now. I remember you! I came back to tell you I remember you!"

He leaned forward and felt all the air leave his body. "You came back?"

"I came back."

"Because...you know me? You know my name?"

"I know your name."

His eyes met hers across the wall of rose bushes and snow and her smile was full of recognition.

"How?" He whispered, knowing something was about to happen but knowing not what.

"Because you are my Adam and I love you."

He wasn't sure if that was the moment he leaned forward to come to her or if he simply fainted and rolled down the hill. But whatever happened in that moment he knew the last thing he remembered was her lovely face and how for the first time since she had come back she was fully and completely his Belle.


	50. Chapter 50

**Chapter 50**

 **Did you ever think that when this started that we would be on CHAPTER 50!? I did, but then I wrote it. However, I didn't really realize how much I would continue to fall in love with it.**

 **The last chapter was a huge roller coaster and I waited a bit before posting another chapter because this one was pretty hard to write and had a very separate feel to it then the last few.**

 **Again, sooooo much thanks to the last few reviews. I know I haven't been addressing you all by name but trust me when I say that they are all so beautiful and appreciated. I still have a few more tricks up my sleeve and so I hope, desperately, that you will continue to enjoy. It has been a very slow build-up, I know this. But I suppose that is the way I meant to write this. Very slow and beautiful and...even though there are exciting things happening I wanted to pace it in a way that would last and seem like you were on the journey with them. Not just getting snippets here and there.**

 **Okay, so this chapter is a little more unique. I guess you could say this was the point where I saw the new 2017 Beauty and the Beast. And I will admit that the movie was flawed. But it did make me think about a lot of different things and it gave me some awesome ideas. I wanted to show a side of Adam we had not seen yet. I wanted to show some of the reasons. The line in the new movie about his father twisting him up really intrigued me. I played around with the idea that Adam has a fear of the dark. It makes it all the more ironic and cruel that he would become a creature that was banished to the darkness. I also toyed around with the concept of why Adam threw Maurice into a tower cell. Why he didn't just huck him out into the snow for the wolves. I think there was some psychology to it. Something that made him think the tower might be the cruelest thing he could do with his own moral compass fighting him from doing anything heinous. Deep down, Adam in any version of the story, is far more gentle then he is ever given credit for except by Belle. I wanted that to show here in this chapter. Sorry that I always use the dreaded dream or flashback sequence.**

 **And, as always, I love the dynamic between Cogsworth, Lumiere, and Adam. I also wanted to make this transformation seem a little less...pretty? I mean, the poor man has had his whole body rearranged four times now. That can't be good for the digestion. Or the psyche. I wanted it to seem a little more realistic and a little less fireworks and beautiful turns into the sunlight (even though that is my favorite part of the original movie). Plus, I love Cogsworth and Lumiere taking care of their baby boy.**

 **Well, that's all I probably should say. Enjoy so much. And don't worry, we ain't done yet! There is still such good stuff to come. Please review and know that I love you. Have a good week!**

* * *

 **"No Way Out" Rie Sinclair**

 **Will time illuminate the stains**  
 **And stop the pain**  
 **The night you held me under a spell**  
 **You know I cannot hide**  
 **You're the very thing unwinding me**

 **No one ever will love me better than**  
 **Your everlasting love**  
 **I found only one way in and no way out**

 **Tear my soul like paper**  
 **Carefully breaking off**  
 **A bitter tonic of lies**  
 **You cut me deeper inside**  
 **Only to sew me back up**

 **You turn the room a shade heaven**  
 **You know my name**

 **No one ever will love me better than**  
 **Your everlasting love**  
 **I found only one way in and no way out**

* * *

Adam knew he was dreaming, at least intellectually. He knew it couldn't be real. He had been a man for far longer than he ever was a child. And yet, for some reason, he found himself wrapped in a world where he was a child again. Or, more accurately, he saw himself as he was. A lovely little prince-ling with soft blond hair and doleful, radiant eyes. Adam felt like he was mentally leaning over a reflective surface to get a better look at the boy. He was so small and fragile, it was a wonder anyone was surprised that he had broken so easily. He watched as a scene unfurled before him and he was powerless to do anything but watch.

 _A smattering of servants stood at attention as His Highness towered over them. His golden hair shone like fire over his heavy coat and furious glare. No one dared look him in the eye as he gazed down on them the same way he would a smashed cockroach._

 _He murmured with a voice like barbed velvet. "If you value your lives, I suggest you tell me where my son is."_

 _Mrs. Potts made a move that would spell doom. She had had enough of this tyrant she called her employer and would have her say about what this man was doing to his son. To her rescue came a young Lumiere who had just been promoted to Under Butler from being His Highness's valet for over two years. Spending those years in the employ of this man, Lumiere knew the cost of a sharp word and it would not bode well for his dear friend. Taking a step out to face His Highness, Lumiere cleared his throat to cover up whatever it was Mrs. Potts had started to say._

 _"Your 'Ighness, Please forgive my interruption! Please allow us to explain ze absence of ze Prince. 'E-"_

 _But before Lumiere could get another word out of his mouth the reigning Prince's hand flew back. The young Under Butler didn't have a moment to react as the back of the hand, covered in signet rings, flashed across his face and sent him flying. He made a sharp noise as he ricochet off the wall and landed at the Prince's feet where a swift kick found Lumiere's nose with a sickening crack. The Prince made to kick again when a young maid, not much older than fifteen, gripped her hands wildly and shouted out over the oaths._

 _"E' is in ze East Wing! 'E won't leave, Your 'Ighness! Ze East Wing!"_

 _The Prince abruptly stopped and looked at the girl who could only stare at the splattered blood from Lumiere's broken nose. With a sneer he gave them all another look over before muttering_

 _"I will deal with your insubordination later." Before sweeping out of the room like a dancer._

The scene shifted and with it came the terrible sensation of moving at winding speed that left Adam dizzy and unable to focus on the images playing out in his mind. He found himself in the East Wing of his childhood. The one his mother left behind. It was bare and sparse since they had removed the body, but the scent of her filled every part of Adam's mind and heart. The little boy he was lay on the bed with wracking sobs that could have broken a heart of stone. It was a testament to his father's absence of one that he could look upon his son and not feel terrible pain at the boy's loss.

 _"Papa..." the boy-prince whispered thickly. The older Prince strode forward purposefully and grasped his son's arm enough to make the boy cry out in pain. Bringing the child's face within inches of his own "I told you that we were done here!"_

 _With a trembling lip Adam looked deeply into his father's beautiful blue eyes. "I want Maman."_

 _A dark look passed over his father's face. Striding to the end table he glared at his son and promptly overturned the table. Adam screamed out as he watched his mother's possessions tumble to the floor. The Prince didn't stop there but proceeded to rip the curtains down from the bed, and pull the blankets from their spots before hurling them out the open window. Taking a chair, with only enough time for his son to cry for him to stop, he swung it in the direction of the vanity and proceeded to destroy everything that had made her what Adam remembered of her. Nothing was spared. By the time he was finished, Adam's father was panting and turned to see a shattered boy with his hands over his face. Once again taking him by the arm he walked purposefully out of the room and made his way to the tower._

 _It wasn't until they reached the landing that the little boy realized where they were going. He gave out a gasping scream and tried to free himself from his father's grip. Servants passed them and hid in the shadows to avoid a similar fate that the dear child would not be able to escape from. When they reached the cell that his father knew would bring the most effective response, he detached himself from the clawing arms and legs. With a violent jerk he sent his son sprawling into the cell and swiftly slammed the door closed. It clanged loudly and shut out most of the light in the room. The boy-prince tried to reach for his father through the bars at the grate but with a side-step the man retreated to the stairs, grabbing the only torchlight in the room._

 _"Please! Please, Papa! Please! Don't leave me! Please." Adam screamed and cried, pressing his face into the stone to hide from the darkness he feared so desperately._

 _"When you can be a man, then you can come out!" The Prince hurled over his shoulder as he retreated down the stairs._

 _For hours, Mrs. Potts sat on the steps of the tower clutching her husband and weeping as she listened to Adam scream in fear and pain at being left in a cold tower cell all through the night. He screamed and cried for so long that soon he no longer had a voice for which to relieve his fear of the darkness and of being left alone with no one to comfort him._

 _The next morning dawned with the Prince leisurely making his way up the stairs in front of a concourse of servants. Despite that his son was a sniveling coward, Adam would prove useful if only to be an example to his staff of what happens to those who defy him._

 _When he opened the cell door, surrounded by numerous servants he found his son curled in the corner of the cell. Eyes wide but unseeing, fingers and face bloody and scratched from clawing in terror at both the walls and his own skin._

 _"Stand!" The Prince barked with authority. The boy jerked to life and rose to his feet like a swan off the water. He gazed at his father with that same terror stricken expression. The Prince waved the boy in his direction and he stumbled forward like a puppet cut from his strings. No one spoke a word and the Prince smirked at the clear signs of self-abuse on his young boy._

 _"And did you enjoy your time in the tower, Adam?"_

 _It was such an ugly taunt that several of the servants shook with the indignation they had to hide._

 _"Yes, Papa." Adam croaked weakly without looking at his father. Lumiere took a lurching step forward as a repeat of the previous day's abuse came across Adam's face in exactly the same way it had the Under Butler. Being so much smaller then Lumiere, Adam skipped to a stop on the floor several feet away. A deep gash from his father's ring bled freely as the child bit through his lip to keep from crying. Moving like a cat stalking his prey, Adam's father crouched down so that Adam couldn't look away from the hatred that read freely on his face._

 _"If you are to be my son then you do not have a 'papa'! You have no 'maman', no 'friends'. You are my heir and will act as such if you don't wish to spend the rest of your life here in the dark."_

 _The silence was like stones crushing the air out of every lung. "Yes, Your Highness." The future ruler whispered._

 _With a sadistic smile Adam's father nodded proudly at his son as the darkness started to swirl around the image._

Adam tried to find his voice. It was so horse from screaming he couldn't seem to find it. The darkness was covering his eyes and he had to escape. He had to find a way out. With a burst of pain he reached out and felt his voice tear as he tried to call for anyone to come and find him in the darkness.

"No! Please! I'll do as you say! Please!"

A hand gripped his and he finally broke the surface of the shadows that filled up his mind. Adam jerked away from whoever had touched him and pried his eyes open as if they were sewn shut. The room was a blur and he filled his lungs with gasping breath.

The world tilted one way and then the other and he had to grasp his head to keep the darkness from overtaking him again. He felt his fingers intertwine in his hair and cover his bare forehead. The feeling of skin touching skin broke through the fog of haze that pounded inside his skull. Taking several deep breaths he felt the mist start to clear and his vision snapped into focus. With trembling fingers he pulled his hands down into view and confirmed what his sensations were telling him.

He was human.

He was human and alive with nothing more terrible attached to the term then a bump on his head. He assumed from fainting like a delicate lady in the sun.

He touched his face softly and was surprised at the strange nuances of his features. How large his nose was, how chapped his lips. What it felt like to have his ears on the side of his head and not near the top. No horns or fangs or claws. He tried to breathe deeply but only managed to sound like he was whimpering.

"How?" He whispered and squinted out into the room. He was surprised to see he was in his own. In his bed, and judging from the way he could feel the finely made bed sheets touching every inch of his very human skin, he was naked.

"My prince?" It was Lumiere.

Removing his hands from his face he squinted and began to see that it was, in fact, Lumiere standing at his bed as one would expect a nursemaid. Adam made a move to sit up and Lumiere put out a steadying hand.

"What happened?" Adam whispered as he grasped his old friend's fingers.

"You came back to us."

Something about those words finally caught up with Adam and he felt a surge of panic so powerful that it knocked the air out of him. "Rosamund!" He scrambled to untangle his bare limbs from the blankets and pushed Lumiere's hands away. "Oh God! My daughter! What has happened to her!? I can't be human!"

To Adam's utter astonishment, Cogsworth stepped forward from wherever he had been sitting in the room. "She is safe, Your Highness! There has been no bells and we received a missive two days ago that your uncle was coming here to assess your health now that the snow has broken."

Adam struggled against Lumiere's attempts to restrain his half-naked charge and looked over his shoulder as if he hadn't quite understood what Cogsworth had said.

"Buy why!?" The panic still gripping his chest like a fist.

"Well, you see, sire. There's been quite a few visitors to the castle after Maurice arrived. It seems the court is returning early."

"What?" Adam asked incredulously as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Cogsworz, 'ush! 'E only just woke up!"

"What is happening?" Adam said with a keening tone to his voice that embarrassed him more then he could say. Lumiere, seeing his Prince's distress, sat down on the bed very close to Adam. Then, taking his face between his hands he held the other man steady and forced him to look him in the eye. "It is alright, My Prince. Everyzing is alright. Rosamund is safe. She is returning to you. Ze castle is safe, you are safe. Everyzing is alright."

Adam heard the words and felt them sink into his brain. "She is alright?"

"Oui."

Adam relaxed a little against his pile of blankets and used Lumiere's arms for support against the fatigue and dizziness that was threatening him. He gasped a little in pain and grasped his side as blood, once again, started to pour from the open wound that came when his body was forced between its two forms. Lumiere called for more bandages and they set to work holding it against Adam's side, hoping it would disappear as it had before. If the silly man would just calm himself.

"Mon Dieu!" Lumiere whispered to himself as he gently pried Adam's hand away from the wound to continue to clean it. "Not again!"

Through the swirling red haze Adam continued to grip Lumiere and speak through the flurry of people who were tending to him.

"But I don't understand...She took away...magic; it was used up...I can't seem to think!"

Adam grasped his pounding head and applied pressure to his temples. "I want to see her. I need to hold her!"

"Rosamund, Your Highness?" Cogsworth gripped his hands nervously. It seemed after they had covered Adam with enough bandages to make a mummy that the blood was no longer pouring out of him like a fountain. Why this continued to happen was beyond understanding. Adam looked pale as a ghost and Cogsworth recognized the look he was making. He had seen it several times when Adam was violently sick with some of his childhood illnesses from long ago. Cogsworth slowly started to make his way over to the end table where the servants had laid several things to tidy the room and put it back to rights.

"Of course! Who else? When can you get them here? Where is Elizabeth?" Adam finally demanded, looking feverish and slightly mad.

Both Heads of House looked at one another as if to speak without words. When Adam was able to pry his eyes open he caught sight of the knowing look they shared.

"Do you remember what happened, Adam?" Came a measured reply from Cogsworth.

"What do you mean? I remember..."

His eyes flew open as the remainder of the story unfurled in his brain like a pair of wings. His eyes connected with Lumiere's as a thousand recognition's crossed his irises and his butler nodded his head ever so.

"She...she came back.." Adam whispered in disbelief, still holding the bandages on his aching side. "She's alive and she came back."

"She did, My Prince."

Adam couldn't seem to catch his breath. He gasped and looked around wildly before his whole body convulsed with the shock of it all.

"Oh God, Lumiere-" He jerked again and he heard Cogsworth move from one end of the room to the other. "Help! I think I'm going to be-"

But before he could say it hot liquid poured out of him and his stomach rolled violently. He grasped Lumiere's arms painfully as a pot was moved underneath him and he clenched and heaved over and over again. Someone was holding his hair out of his face and he vaguely heard Lumiere whispering comforts in French. When it felt like his whole stomach was going to come up too, he somehow found the will to get control of the spasms that sent his whole head spinning into darkness. He clenched his hands on the blanket and breathed deeply through his nose.

When he was sure he was once again in control, Adam laid back against his pillows. His valet and several footmen were called over to begin their ministrations. But Adam, shaking and covered in his own sick, could only think her name as the reality of it all settled in upon him.

"She's alive, she's alive she's alive."

* * *

Lumiere took four steps out the door of the west wing when he was seized on my two small, but strong, hands. "How is he?"

The skinny butler looked down at the woman at his arm and was again struck by how she looked so different and yet so much the same over the years she had been gone.

"Non so well, ma cherie. 'E is plagued wiz many nightmares. 'E 'as been given laudanum to 'elp 'im sleep."

Belle's fallen face was heart-crushing. She had been waiting for days to see him. Ever since he had passed out in the gardens. With a conspiratorial whisper Lumiere nodded her in the direction of the door. "If you 'urry 'e might not be asleep yet."

She smiled at him and rushed in the direction of the door before murmuring a thank you above her shoulder.

* * *

When she came to his bed she had to stop. He was lying on his back with the covers pulled up across his chest. His eyes were glazing over and drooping as only one could after consuming laudanum. He eyed his hands as if he wasn't quite sure what they were. She approached his side of the bed and when her shadow crossed his face he looked up at her as if it were the most normal thing for dead wives to come strolling up to you before sleep.

He gave a weak, drunken smile and reached out a few fingers towards her. "Belle...You came back." he slurred a bit.

"Of course I did. And I always will." She couldn't help it. She took his very human hands in her own and had to bite her lip to keep the sobs from rising up. How could she have forgotten what it felt like to hold his hand? To see his face with those beautiful blue eyes looking back at her?

So many thoughts and feeling swirled inside of her that she felt she was straddling an ever shifting continent and it would soon shift so far apart and she would simply fall between the two halves and be lost forever.

"I missed you..." He was barely audible as his eyes started to close and she wasn't sure if he even knew what was real anymore.

"Never again. You never have to miss me again."

He smiled at that before drifting into a dreamless sleep. "I wish..." But whatever he wished was gone, though the smile didn't fade from his mouth. Belle curled up onto the side of his bed and placed a gentle arm around his waist. Never letting go of his hand she rested her uncovered head on his shoulder and said to him all the things she remembered. And he seemed to hear her because he continued to smile even when she was sure he was so very far away.


	51. Chapter 51

**Chapter 51**

 **OMG EVERYONE! I am sooooo sorry it has taken me so long to update! I don't know what came over me! I will post another chapter this week to make up for it.**

 **But here is this one!**

 **This chapter was really rough to write. It's hard to wrap up a story line that could easily have been its own story on its own. Elizabeth was a really enigmatic character and was always going to be on the losing side. But I think I always liked her in her own way.**

 **I also wanted to give their backstory a little bit. Some reason why they were they way they were together. And why it all happened the way I wrote it.**

 **I also want to give fair warning that there is some talk of anatomy in this chapter. Specifically Adam's anatomy.**

 **I'm still going on the original 1991 Beauty and the Beast timeline where Adam was young when he was cursed. It is just the one I have always been attached to. I want to think that as a Beast he had to make his way into humanity as best he could and that sometimes left adult things by the wayside. I also want to think that as a beast he would have repressed his sexuality quite a great deal. He was a beast and entirely uncomfortable with his body. I don't think it would have been in the forefront of his mind as much as he was just barely keeping it together for years of his life. Suddenly becoming a robust beautiful young man with a body to match would have been a game changer. And I wanted to explore that dynamic. Sorry if it makes anyone uncomfortable.**

 **Other then that, this chapter is a crazy one and I hope you enjoy. Please review and I promise I will keep it together with getting stuff posted!**

 **Have a great week**

* * *

 **"Skinny Love" Birdy**

 **And I told you to be patient,**  
 **And I told you to be fine,**  
 **And I told you to be balanced,**  
 **And I told you to be kind,**  
 **And now all your love is wasted,**  
 **Then who the hell was I?**  
 **'Cause now I'm breaking at the britches,**  
 **And at the end of all your lines.**

 **Who will love you?**  
 **Who will fight?**  
 **And who will fall far behind?**

* * *

It took a total of a week for the entire castle to be teaming with visitors. Once Maurice had been spotted traveling from Molynoux and then Adam's uncle making his way with the royal princesses, all hell finally broke loose.

Cogsworth secretly loved the frenzy of activity. The important guests and dignitaries that adorned the dinner table like a fancy Christmas tree.

Adam, on the other hand, was loath to leave his rooms. Several days of drug induced rest and he finally caught up with himself. But that didn't cure the confusion and semi-disinterest in the whole matter. It all seemed a little anti-climatic. He had yet to see _her_ since the incident occurred; unless you count the strange dream he had when he had first awoken. He wanted to be with her so badly it was all he could do to stop himself from running down the hallway with only the skin on his back and his nose to guide him.

But he didn't. He stayed in his rooms and stared at his hands the way he had done fourteen years ago when the curse was first lifted.

It had been such a surprise, at the time, to suddenly be human. More so to be a fully grown human _man_ then the barely grown boy-prince he had been before the curse. At the time, he could hardly look himself in the mirror for fear of seeing his father looking back at him. His hands had been so large, his chest so immense. He had been caught more than once standing in the middle of the room running his hands along the contours of his face with nothing on but a pair of breeches. How did one enter man-hood as a beast and then reconcile to suddenly being an actual man?

Adam could almost muse over the occasion when Lumiere had caught him peeking down the front of his trousers at his decidedly bigger appendage. He hadn't really given it much thought as a boy but now that he was a grown human it was odd to think of how large he had gotten. And what he was supposed to do with it. Lumiere had laughed and laughed and made some ribald joke about all the ways he was a man now but in truth Adam was still a little put off by the whole thing. At times he felt completely cheated. Everyone else that lived to adulthood took the process for granted. Living through the growth of your body and the use of it was something rather extraordinary and Adam had not been given that opportunity. Instead he had woken up fully grown with a large, long limbed body that did awfully strange things whenever _she_ entered the room. He had been so mortified the first time it had happened that he had refused to see her for days. Luckily for him, she had caught up quickly with what was going on with him and had only been the more supportive.

Adam felt the same now. And it was the strangest thing to think that it was again her that he was hiding from. What would he say to her? He was so much the more changed as he had been before. Years on his face. A completely different life lived without her in it. How could he explain it all to her?

Dinner arrived far too soon and there were a myriad of guests awaiting his arrival. He adorned his usual costume and came down as he always had. As if nothing unusual had transpired over the course of the winter. He walked slowly as a man twice his age would and entered the dining room with as pleasing a look as he could give. Several expectant faces looked back up at him and he wasn't surprised to recognize most of them. The usual crowd looking for favor.

Then his eyes landed on her. She had her face covered again and it was all he could do not to run up to her and rip the entire thing off. She sat with her son who looked decidedly surly. Adam would have to speak to them both in private that night. When he could shake off the endless nonsense of all these other people. He gave leave for everyone to be seated and begin eating. The usual chatter filled the room. His eyes never left hers and it would seem she felt the same because she continued to ignore whatever Gabriel was saying to her and only looked at him as deeply as she had the first day he had been human. As if she had never seen anything so incredible in her entire life.

A whisper entered his ear and if he had had half her tenacity he would have ignored it. But he didn't.

"Forgive me, your Highness but..."

Adam barely flicked a cheek muscle to indicate he was listening. "But a _Madam Soleil_ is here to see you."

The world came to a standstill. He made the smallest of gasping noises and looked up at Cogsworth who nodded gravely at him. Standing up abruptly he caused several others to scramble in response, spilling soup as they came up.

"Forgive...forgive me. Please continue. I must see to..." His eyes darted to the beautiful woman sitting a few table settings down from him but he quickly looked away and allowed himself to be led out of the room to the interest of every gossip in attendance.

* * *

Lumiere saw the look on Belle's face and knew that he had no choice but to make his way over to her and her son.

"This is very good soup." She murmured into her dish as Lumiere made as if to clear her setting. It was curious to everyone watching, that the Butler himself was clearing the place of this half covered no-one.

"Merci, My lady."

"What has happened?" Her voice dropped so that Lumiere read her lips more then heard her.

"A Madam Soliel has come to see His Highness."

"Who is that?"

With a deep sigh Lumiere looked away to refrain from seeing her pain. " 'Is wife."

* * *

When Adam entered the sitting room that had belonged to the resident princess since time memorial, it was brightly lit and warm enough for a long conversation. Her back was to him and since she was covered in a warm fur he could not see anything but her outline. He cleared his throat and looked her up and down before finding his voice.

"Are you with child?"

She paused for a moment and when she turned it was Elizabeth as she had always been. Rapturous and so beautiful it hurt to look at her. Her eyes were round and warm though her posture was a cold as ice.

"I am not."

And indeed she was as slender as she always was. Adam released the air he had not realized he was holding.

"Are you relieved?" She asked

"In our present circumstances it would only complicate the situation more. So yes, I am relieved."

"Things don't seem all that complicated to me. I was watching you. You seem to have moved on quite effectively."

"Elizabeth, I can explain'-"

"Adam." She cut him off and her tone was so final he shut his mouth. "I didn't escape your banishment for an explanation."

"What have you come for?"

"To see you."

He looked around as if he couldn't believe that answer. "Well, you have seen me. Am I still found wanting? Are there any other footmen you wish to replace me with?" Where the venom in his voice had come from he wasn't sure but it was there and he couldn't change it.

"It was never about the footman."

"Then what was it about? Me? My inability to please you?"

"Yes."

Adam took a step back as if he hadn't considered that she would say such a thing. His man-hood was threatening to wither and die at her very words. He had never considered her to find him so very lacking in that category.

"Well..." He said placing a hand on the sofa. "I suppose that says everything."

"It says nothing. Take a moment and consider the idea that perhaps there isn't such an easy solution to our problems."

"I have considered it, Elizabeth, but I cannot understand why. I was not your jailer. You were not my prisoner. Why? What did I do to become so repulsive to you?"

To his surprise she sat down on the sofa with her skirts spread out before her as if they were merely having tea. "I remember the first time I met you. My father had promised me to the Prince."

"Me. He promised you to me." Adam corrected angrily.

She smiled as if he had said something funny. "It was your idea to have a masked ball in honor of the deal struck between everyone but myself."

"If you are going to rehash this story then tell it right. It was not _my_ idea. It was Cogsworth'. And I was finally coming out of my deepest mourning. The last thing I wanted was to remarry. It was required of us both. You don't get to play the martyr here unless you include me."

She blinked once or twice but her smile never faltered. Adam stubbornly refused to sit beside her but resigned himself to leaning against the arm of the sofa all the same. "I was never the martyr. I was the bargaining chip. Can't you see that that is all I have ever been?"

"Not to me!"

"I was supposed to be engaged to you that very night and I had never met you! I was supposed to pull the mask off my face as if it all were some silly game."

"I knew it was you out in that garden. I came looking for you so you could meet me without everyone watching!"

"But you didn't tell me that, Adam!"

He stopped for a moment at her words, as the memories came flooding back of the night they had met. She was right. He had never introduced himself and she had not known who he was before he started talking to her.

"You came up to me with your smirk and your messy hair and sat down as if we were the greatest of friends."

"I don't smirk!"

She ignored him with a smirk of her own. "And you put your hand out and told me how ridiculous you thought it all was. You said if you could you would run away to fight pirates or join the gypsies. I laughed and took your hand thinking you were the man of my dreams. So handsome and rakish."

Adam again turned away from her, knowing full well how he had appeared to her that night and never having corrected her.

"You told me all these stories of the court and how incredibly stupid you thought they were and how beautiful the world was when you didn't have to appear so very refined. I never once thought you could have been the man who would later force me to live that very life you mocked."

"But you know that I do think those things! You knew that!"

"I didn't, Adam. You stole my heart that night like a thief. You put your hands in my hair and kissed me as I have never been kissed. I will never be kissed like that again. And I loved you. I wanted you and would have given you everything in that garden without ever looking back. You smiled and laughed as if it was all so funny and I loved you for it. When I was summoned to the ballroom by my father you said you would be waiting for me in the garden for that 'everything' I was promising you. I really believed you would do it. That you were my roguish rescuer from the evil Prince my father was forcing me to marry."

Adam bit his lip painfully and would have thrashed around like the beast he was if he thought it would help. But it wouldn't. Her words hurt because they were all true. He had known the lies he never admitted to her and that there was nothing in their marriage they hadn't touched.

"When I saw you standing on the dais next to my father I thought it was some kind of cruel trick. I had planned to refuse the Prince and run away to the gardens to follow you everywhere. But there you were. One in the same and there was no way out of it after that."

"If you never once loved me...If you despised me so much...why?!" Adam finished, clutching his fingers to his lapels.

"Because I loved him!"

"Then you loved me! That has always been me!"

"No, Adam, no." And to his surprise she was standing and her hands were on his shoulders as if she were holding him together. "This is who you are. You are Adam. You can't help but be royal and regal and beautiful in all your pain and beauty. But I never wanted that. I never wanted to be your Princess. I wanted to be your sordid lover. Your partner in crime. I wanted to run away and find adventure and passion and all the disrepute in the world that you promised me."

Adam blinked several times seeing all the beauty and ugliness she longed for. But she was right. In the end he was too much like his mother. Too much like his father. Too much like Belle. He couldn't be a sordid lover or a thief or a monster. Anymore then she could be the ultimate love of his life. It just wasn't the way they were made.

"You used me..." He whispered thickly. "Those months ago in my study…. You used me as if I were nothing more than a common whore."

"And you should despise me for it. I thought if I could bring out the monster that lives inside you I could love you as much as you love me."

Adam's breath caught in his chest and he met her eyes with very real fear. She ran a soft hand through his hair and gave him a half smile. "You may keep your secrets to yourself but don't believe that you can't be found out. If one knows where to look."

"H-How?"

"You kept your silence about this our entire marriage. Others, in this castle, did not."

"I wanted to tell you so many times….."

"You were right not to….I never would have understood. I would have always been looking for that other half of you when you were with me, inside my bed. Even though…deep down…I think I've always known you were more then the man you pretended to be. Though, it was not quite as I believed."

Adam felt his gut coil and fill with the familure shame of the animal that lived inside him and made him not quite man, but not quite beast. The same red-hot shame that made him incapable of ever telling her the truth no matter how he had loved her.

"I'm sorry…." He whispered, unable to look her in the eye.

"Don't worry about it." Her soft reply felt like a caress. "I think I understand now why she was your one and only. The only one who could have lived with that truth you hide."

"I love _you_ , Elizabeth."

"Tell me, if she had come back to you, somehow. If she had miraculously returned to you. Who would you have chosen?"

"I made a promise to you. I keep my promises. I would have chosen you."

"And that is why you and I can never be together. If it had been me and the man I fell in love with from the garden returned to me… I never would have kept my promise."

Adam felt his throat close and he turned his face away from her as a solitary tear streaked down his cheek.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I deceived you. But I do love you, despite everything."

She ran a tender hand along his wet cheeks and he barely breathed as she kissed them on each side. "I'm not. I'm not sorry for any of it."

"What do you want me to do? How are we to fix this?"

"I may not have that man I loved from the garden but I still have his promises. I am going with him in my heart to those places he told me about."

"How? You are my wife, here!" Adam looked at her for the first time in several moments with frustration coloring his face.

"That is where you and your obnoxiously loyal advisers come to help."

He looked at her with grave suspicion. "What do you mean?"

"They must believe it, Adam. Everyone must believe without doubt that I am dead."

He looked about himself as if to call upon answers from heaven. "How am I to accomplish that?! There are those who still believe Belle is alive. To this day!"

"You will find a way. You always do."

"And if I cannot?!" He would find a way to refuse her. He would do that for his daughters.

"You have a week. I will stay in the village and wait for the bells. If you are not clever enough to find a way to end this horrible existence in farce, then I will do it for you. You will have no choice but to try me for treason and make our children bastards."

It felt like she was kicking him in the stomach. "You would force me to kill you?"

"I would. If it means being free, I will."

He attempted to catch his breath, feeling as if he was being torn apart. "And what of Rosamund and Isabelle!? What of our children? What am I to tell them when they ask me why their mother was torn from them?!"

She touched his hands and face as if they were still lovers. "Tell them...tell them that their mother loved them as much she could. Even if it was never enough. Tell them that she did what she could to give them their best chance."

For the first time in their entire conversation her voice broke and Adam could only look at her face with obvious agony. Taking her roughly in his arms he kissed her. He kissed her as he once had in the garden, as he had that night in the study. He kissed her as he had before he banished her. Their entire love summed up in a series of kisses that always meant farewell. Kisses from two people who could not be more right and wrong for each other at the same time.

She gave him a watery smile as she touched his face once more and then stepped back, pulling her hood over her face and vanished from the room without another word to leave him with.

He sat down on the sofa and wished, more than anything, that he even _wanted_ for her to come back.


	52. Chapter 52

**Chapter 52**

 **Hello, my darlings. I seem to be having a devil of a time getting the chapters out these days. I love all of your reviews so much and for those that are still reading but haven't been reviewing, that's alright. I hope to get some good ones for you when we finally wrap up this story.**

 **This chapter is alright. It is somewhat of a means to an end. I love the idea of Adam sitting in counsel with all his people. It makes me believe that he really started to see them as friends somewhere along the lines. And it wraps up that particular story-line quite effectively. Plus is really does show the conflict in Adam about his relationship with Elizabeth and how it will effect his re-blooming relationship with Belle.**

 **I'm satisfied with this and I hope you enjoy it anyway. I would love some reviews. I am almost out of chapters and the ending is coming up and any feedback and encouragement is very welcome.**

* * *

 **"Not As We" Alanis Morressette**

 **Gun shy and quivering**

 **Timid without a hand**

 **Feign brave with steel intent**

 **Little and hardly here**

 **Day one day one start o-over again**

 **Step one step one**

 **With not much making sense just yet**

 **I'm faking it til I'm pseudo making it**

 **From scratch begin again but this time I as I**

 **And not as we**

 **Eyes wet toward**

 **Wide open frayed**

 **If God's taking bets**

 **I pray He wants to lose**

* * *

The next morning dawned bright and clear and seemed a perfect day to start opening the castle for guests. It was a farce that had to be maintained until the advisers met with the Prince sometime around mid morning. Adam was in a foul mood and was practically spitting toads at everything from the weather to any footman that dared cross his path.

When they finally met in the council chambers a little after breakfast, it was in everyone's best interest to allow him to come out with it on his own. When he looked over to see Maurice and Belle entering the room as if they had been present in every council for the last two decades. Adam shook his head as if to blatantly refuse them entry to the room when Belle squared her shoulders and gave him such a look that all he could do was look back with his mouth agape.

"We know we are intruding, my boy, but whatever is happening...it involves us too. Am I right?"

Adam wanted to glare at his father-in-law but he couldn't dispute that it did, in fact, involve them both. He closed his mouth and gave a short nod before averting his eyes from Belle's piercing stare. He couldn't look at her right now or he would lose whatever composure he still had. It was pure torment to have her so very close and be unable to even speak with her, let alone touch her. And now they were both alive and human, to boot.

When all was settled and he had all the attention of the people he trusted most, he found it difficult to begin. They sat in silence for the longest time when Cogsworth finally cleared his throat and prompted Adam with a few words. "The Princess has returned to the village as you suggested she would, Your Highness. She gave the name Soliel to the innkeeper so her identity has not been discovered."

Adam nodded, swallowed hard and looked down at his human hands. "I...Elizabeth...has made a decision."

When no one interrupted him the whole story poured out in short clipped sentences. The betrayal, the banishment, her return to the castle and her ultimatum to her husband. Everyone fell into silence and it was all he could do not to look to Belle for the comfort he so desperately wanted.

"Zis is madness!" Lumiere murmured.

"Indeed, it cannot be done! We cannot lie to the entire country, can we?"

"And the alternative?" Adam said feeling his control slip. "We force her back here and she declares her treason to the entire world."

"Then deny it! Forgive me, but she is a woman and deplorable as it sounds, she strictly belongs to you." Cogsworth seemed to barely believe his own words.

"And then what? Lock her up in a tower? I can identify at least two people here who would find that reprehensible at best!" At last he stole a glance in their direction to see stark looks of sadness on both Belle and Maurice's faces and he turned away once more.

It was a surprise when Luis was the next to speak up, ever the one to speak the truth.

"And no matter what we do to her she'll find a way to make her voice heard. She'll bring down the good opinion of every member of court, if the story of her adultery spreads to the gentry. She will make His Highness look like a cuckolded fool."

"I don't care about that!" He said vehemently though he knew it was a lie. He cared very much that his wife could turn from him so effectively.

"Then what is the answer?" Mrs. Potts said, wishing she could reach out an arm to show him her support.

"Must I kill her?" Adam whispered only loud enough for those nearest to hear him.

"I think..." Chip spoke up from the side of the room. He wasn't strictly a council member but it was useless to try and leave him out. "I think I might have an idea."

All eyes turned to him and for the first time Belle really looked at the Prince's Master of the Hunt to realize who it was she had been looking at the entire time. Images of dancing teacups blurred her vision for a moment before she turned to her father in amazement and tried to listen to what Chip was saying.

"I went down to the village two days ago. When you were still...asleep. I thought we could trade a few pelts for some supplies now that the road cleared. There was news of wolf killings all over the forest. A girl I knew...from before...you know?" His mother nodded impatiently and he ducked his head with embarrassment but continued. "She was killed almost a week ago but...she had no family. If we told everyone the Princess was dead and then...perhaps..."

Everyone looked at him with aghast expressions. "Are you suggesting we rob a grave to convince the populous that the Princess has died?" Cogsworth asked pulling out a handkerchief for dramatic effect.

"Do you even know where she is buried?" Babette asked, taking Lumiere's hand.

"In the poppers cemetery just outside of the village. She had no money for a service."

"It won't work." Adam said leaning back in his chair. "They will demand to see her face and enough people know what Elizabeth looked like. They'll never buy it. They'll accuse me of something atrocious the way they did with..." He again snuck a distracted look in Belle's direction. "When I could not produce a body for the last Princess that died during my reign."

"Well, that's the thing, Adam. This was a wolf attack. This girl...she didn't fare too well when they tore into her. She doesn't have much of a face to identify her. If I remember her right she had the same color hair as Elizabeth and she was small. If we dress her up a bit and cover up the nastier bits...they might believe she was just attacked on her way back here from the winter palace."

"Zis could work, my Prince. Chip will go tonight and collect...ze poor wretch. We set up ze broken carriage and a few extra bodies for dramatic effect. Tomorrow we ring ze bells and voila! Your wife is dead and your Elizabez is free to do...whatever it is she zinks is so much better away from us."

Everyone seemed to be going along with the mad ruse. Adam wanted to shout at them how awful it all sounded. This was his wife! The mother of his daughters! His Soliel! How could they be doing this so easily? It shouldn't be this simple!

"There's a problem with all this." Adam couldn't keep the choked worry from his voice despite himself.

"What is it?" Chip asked, feeling slightly triumphant that his plan could actually work.

"Her father. We have to convince her father."

"Ze Duke? What about 'im?" Lumiere made a sniff of disdain at the mention of Elizabeth's father.

"He will know it is not her without seeing her face."

"How?"

Adam shifted uncomfortably and looked at Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Chip defiantly. He would not make this easy for them. "She has a birthmark. He spoke of it often in negotiation. He will demand to see it on the body to prove it is really his daughter. He believed, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it was some celestial sign of her right to the throne."

Everyone stopped and stared at Adam's information, befuddled. "I don't suppose he would be fooled if we recreated it on the body with a...with a..." Cogsworth scrambled for the right word.

"Genius, mon ami!" Lumiere declared. "Ze stains zey use on skin in ze Indies. It would look just as a birzmark if we know what we are painting. Zere must be an artist in residence by now."

"More bribery, I see." Adam muttered folding his arms across his chest.

"But you agree?" Chip asked with fervor in his eyes.

His master sighed as if the air were being pulled out of his lungs forcefully. "I will draw you a picture." He stood, no longer willing to admit that this might actually work and that he would be free from a marriage he wasn't sure he wanted to be free from. Everyone stood with him as he let his eyes rest on Belle for just a few moments before fleeing the room and its dangerous plans. She needed to understand what she had come back to life for. A horrible situation that could never be fully resolved no matter how many dead bodies they dug up.

"It was a star. Exactly the size of my palm. Her inner right leg…. almost all the way up." He faltered as Belle's cheeks colored at what he was saying. "I would know. It was always where I held her. I would be able to recreate it in my sleep."

And without another word he left his advisors to sort him out of this mess.


	53. Chapter 53

**Chapter 53**

 **Alright, Alright, Alright. This chapter I love. I had to do something between Belle and Chip. I just had to. And I had to give Belle more screen time as just Belle. Belle remembering who she is and bringing herself back into the world that we love her most in. And, I just love grown-up Chip. He's the best!**

 **This starting over, "bitter-sweet and strange, finding you can change", mentality is what I wrote this story for. I hope you like it as it's just tender and is really circling around all the relationships that need to be repaired for this story to have a happy ending.**

 **If you liked it please review. I would love to hear from as many of you as I can before its all over.**

 **Have such a good week**

* * *

 **"Carry You"- Ruelle**

 **I know it hurts**  
 **It's hard to breathe sometimes**  
 **These nights are long**  
 **You've lost the will to fight**

 **Is anybody out there?**  
 **Can you lead me to the light**  
 **Is anybody out there?**  
 **Tell me it'll all be alright**

 **You are not alone**  
 **I've been here the whole time singing you a song**  
 **I will carry you, I will carry you**

* * *

Everything after that seemed to happen very quickly as time picked up its pace and sped past its occupants as if their opinions mattered not at all. The body was dressed up as best it could be after having been in the ground for a week. The bells were called and the entire country stood still as the announcement of the death of the Princess came forth. It wasn't surprising that the Duke arrived before Adam's daughters or the King did. The man was furious and beside himself with grief. Adam had already gone into full mourning, his clothing only needing to be taken out a little from the last time his wife died. Elizabeth's father railed at the Prince as if he were nothing more than a horrible little boy who had set fire to the country home.

"You murdered her!" he screamed at Adam. "I know you killed her! You are a monster! Do you hear!? He killed her! He killed my daughter! He murders his wives in cold blood!" Upon which he was promptly removed from the audience hall. But not before Adam completely burst into laughter at the audacity of it all. He laughed until tears streamed down his face and everyone was sure the Prince had finally gone mad.

When he partially recovered himself he was sitting at the foot of his throne with tears of both laughter and pain streaming down his face. Cogsworth stood nervously next to him waiting for something to crack.

"Just think of it, Cogsworth!" Adam said rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands. "He said I killed my wives! What a surprise it would be for him to find out that they are both miraculously still alive!" Adam shook a little as if chilled then looked up at his advisers in alarm. "They are both alive...Cogsworth? I was still married to Belle when I married Elizabeth! I've committed bigamy! I'll be excommunicated from the church!" He stood as if just realizing the weight of his current situation.

"Calm yourself, Mon petite Chou" Lumiere said good naturedly as he pushed down on Adam's shoulders to get him to resume his seat. "It will sort itself out. Technically, you were never really married to Elizabez, zen. As you were still married to a very alive Belle."

"But I was legally married. The church recognized it!"

"And zey will recognize ze deaz of ze current princess as zey did ze last. And none will be ze wiser for it."

"We will burn in hell for this..." Adam said feeling very old and weary.

"Well, we'll be in good company." Cogsworth said giving a sniff.

* * *

The services for a dead princess were ravishing and Belle couldn't help but intellectually be fascinated by the whole thing. She wondered at what the similarities between this death and her own were. How had the people reacted to her death? Her headaches were starting to subside and the nightmares were not so horrid as they had when she had first remembered who she was. It had been such a shock to the system that she wasn't entirely sure what was up and down or left and right. She felt like two people who had merged into one. It was such an interesting sensation to realize that knowing who you were made her bravery return. She knew who she was. She was the daughter of Rosamund and Maurice. She had lived in a small village and fallen in love with a tender sweet man trapped inside the body of the Beast. She was a mother and a damn near good one and it made her suddenly feel like a Belle and not a Marie.

She rarely heard her name spoken as everyone seemed terrified to address her. In fact, she had only heard it from the mouth of Adam and so far he had been as absent as if he was the one who had died. She left like her heart was being ripped out and stomped on. Every night she found herself wandering to the west wing and every night she had lost her nerve. It wasn't until the third day of the former Princesses' internment that Belle found herself going to the stables. If she couldn't talk with Adam then she would find the next best thing.

"I want you to go as far as Delcroux. Inquire how far they have traveled and what the delay is. If the princesses don't get here soon our Prince is going to try and hunt them down himself. Just imagine that!"

Chip's authoritative voice was foreign to Belle and she stood off to the side watching as the lackey he had been talking to took off on the horse he had saddled without another word. Chip began to brush off his own mount before finally noticing her tucked into the side of the stables. He smiled and turned back to his work.

"I wondered how long it would take you to make your way out here."

"You speak as if you had expected it."

"No one changes that much, Belle."

She shivered at the sound of her name and slowly made her way to the stallion receiving its ministrations.

"You know, you're the only one here who doesn't seem to be afraid of me."

"They aren't afraid of you. They're afraid of how they feel. They lost you once and it nearly killed them. Imagine the pain of a second time."

"But, I'm not dead."

"It's much harder to convince our hearts to believe something we've told it for such a long time."

"In the village where I lived they all believed I was a witch. I think I believed them sometimes as well. I tried not to but it changes you. To be told something so much that it's all you know."

Chip smiled again, still brushing as if he didn't have a care in the world. "But think how much more you understand now that you know what that feels like, and to learn that it isn't true. You could change the world with that knowledge."

"I never understood Adam so well as I do right now. What kind of suffering to believe that all he would be was a monster."

"Ah, well, I wouldn't go so far as to say you are a monster. You are still Belle, no matter how you look." Chip shifted his weight a little bit and looked down for the first time from his brushing.

"Belle, I….apologize for my reaction at your cottage last autumn. Even if it hadn't been you I was actually looking at I…..I behaved poorly. Adam and I both did. I never meant to make you feel that way. You have always been the most beautiful thing I will ever have the privilege of looking upon and nothing in the world would change that. I should have known better."

They both stood in silence for a few moments as Belle processed what Chip was saying. She had not realized the entirety of how damaging words had been in her life. How the fearful looks and disgusted sneers had sculpted her opinion of beauty and worthiness. It made her sick to her stomach to think about and she looked at Chip with eyes that plead for his understanding of a weakness she was determined to crush into oblivion.

"You know," She finally started the conversation again, not quite addressing his apology. "I didn't start wearing the scarf until after she had...left."

"I suppose she made you feel safe?"

"I suppose so. She was so protective of us. I didn't really realize that I was hiding myself away until we no longer had her to hide with. She was a lovely, albeit eccentric, person. But…..she didn't die, did she?"

"No, she did not."

"Because it was the Enchantress?"

"That is what Adam believes."

"She was kind to us. She took care of us when I wasn't sure who I was. I want to hate her but..."

"Don't worry, love. There are enough people here who hate her to fill the castle. You don't need to be one of them."

"I feel lost Chip... Like a boat without my anchor. And he...is he lost to me too?"

Finally Chip turned and looked at her and his smile slipped just a little bit. "No, my dear, no. You can't begin to understand how he suffered from losing you. You must give him time."

"I wish we could go back. I would change everything that happened. He never would have married her-"

"Now now. Don't begrudge Elizabeth. It doesn't suit you."

"Was she as beautiful as everyone said?"

Chip resumed his brushing. "Yes. She was exquisite. But she wasn't you." And he winked in her direction which almost made her laugh. "No, never hate Elizabeth, my friend. She had to live in your shadow and that is a heavy burden to bear."

"Surely he was kind to her."

"More than kind. He worshiped her. She was his sun. But he would always love you with more passion then any human should be able to feel and that was something she couldn't overcome. In the end, she let it ruin her. Pity Elizabeth, Belle. Have sympathy for her self-inflicted suffering."

"I do. I just wish I could have spared him."

"You can't spare pain, I don't think. You just have to pass through it. And believe it or not she did him a lot of good. He knows epic true love from loving you, but he learned to be steady from her. In many ways she saved his life when we were sure you were gone."

"There were others before Elizabeth, wasn't there?"

Chip looked up again and sighed as if he had revealed more then he would have liked. "How did you piece that together?"

"If I remember Adam correctly he's a terrible liar. In any form. Were there others?"

"These are things only he has the right to tell you."

"But he won't see me. And I've missed everything. Everything that was important to him. Please tell me there was someone filling up that space that didn't leave him battered and alone."

Chip winced a little at her forwardness. "There was only one other. No one really knew about it. I only do because I hid in the curtains when my mother and Lumiere spoke of it long after it was over. This girl...I guess she held him together when no one else could."

"Who was she?"

"As to that mystery you will have to find out from him and then let me know. I was too young to find out for myself."

She nodded and started to run her hands along the stallion's flank. It nickered and continued to chomp away at its feeding bag.

"Everything has changed. You all went on without me and I don't know how to fit here anymore."

"Don't say that. If you don't fill up that hole you left, then who will? We need you here more than ever."

"Do you? Who am I, Chip? Look at me. Look at you! You're fully grown and Master of the Hunt. You all lived and thrived."

"And you don't believe that you did as well?"

"It seems to pale a bit in comparison."

"Hardly, Belle," He said and finally took her hands which felt like a miracle to finally be touched by anyone other than her father and son. All of the sudden she was connected to him as she had not been before. "You lived. That is more then we could have ever hoped for. We were here and even when they forced him to declare you dead we mourned and waited for you to come back. You, on the other hand, worked and raised your son and found your way back to us. It may have seemed pathetic to you at the time but anything is better than being dead. Anything is heroic when I see you standing here, remembering who I am."

She had started to weep and she clutched his hands to her own like a rope towing her back to land.

"I remember you, Chip."

"And I remember you, Belle."

They smiled at one another and she gave a little shake so that her short hair bounced against her face. "What am I going to tell Gabriel?"

"That he has a family that has always loved and wanted him. Well, except for Beasty. That is going to take some convincing."

"Who is Beasty?" Her look of confusion made Chip laugh.

"Adam's youngest daughter. You'll understand the nickname when you meet her. The child's a tyrant."

"You call her Beasty?" She wrinkled her nose as he always remembered her doing and he wanted to hug her to him like he once had as a child.

"Christened by her very own father as such."

"What is her given name?"

Chip ducked his head with a soft smile and then looked back at her through long blond lashes.

"Isabelle."

Belle breathed in deeply and looked at him for the lie where there wasn't one. "He didn't."

"He did."

"Oh, that poor woman. What did she say when he named her child that?"

"She didn't realize it until after the first was born that he was naming his daughters after you. I don't think she ever forgave him for it."

"What is the first's name?"

Again a pause but this time with much more reverence. "Rosamund."

Belle closed her eyes at her mother's name and put a few fingers to her lips. "Oh God, Chip."

"I know. Now do you see? He never forgot you. He never moved on without you. He's been packing your soul with him wherever he goes. And come hell or high water he isn't going to let you go now that you've come back to him. Just give him time to let everything else go. To mourn and come to terms with what he has to do."

She smoothed a stray hair out of his face. "When did you grow up to be so wise, little teacup?"

With some hesitation Chip looked deeply into Belle's brown eyes. "My lady, would you like to meet my son?"

She looked both surprised and pleased at the same time. "You have a son?"

"I do and I've always wanted you to meet him. Even when it was impossible. Would you care to join us for luncheon?"

"I would love to meet your son, Chip." And arm in arm they returned to the castle to start lifting the sadness it was entrenched in.


	54. Chapter 54

**Chapter 54**

 **Oh...Hey guys! Remember me!? Remember how I've lagged getting chapters out sooo badly! So sorry about that! Life has really gotten in the way with getting married, moving twice, etc etc. Since it is so busy, I'm going to punch out the last few chapters of the story and be done pretty soon. But I do love you and have loved writing this and want you all to have a spectacular ending. So enjoy this chapter. It is such a beautiful one between a father and his son!**

* * *

 **"Unsteady" X-Ambassadors**

 **Hold**  
 **Hold on**  
 **Hold on to me**  
 **'Cause I'm a little unsteady**  
 **A little unsteady**  
 **Hold**  
 **Hold on**  
 **Hold on to me**  
 **'Cause I'm a little unsteady**  
 **A little unsteady**

 **Mother**  
 **I know**  
 **That you're tired of being alone**  
 **Dad I know you're trying**  
 **To fight when you feel like flying**

 **But if you love me**  
 **Don't let go**  
 **If you love me**  
 **Don't let go**

* * *

Adam hated his mourning clothes. Everyone in the castle was so bleak, in nothing but black, it was enough to make a man hurl himself off the tower in a fit of blue devils! He sat in his study, not even knowing where to start with getting his life back together. The poor girl they had stolen from her holy resting place had been laid in the family tomb and that was the end of it. Without so much as a backward glance he was a widower again. He sat up late into the evenings wondering where Elizabeth was and if she was happy. A parade of humanity came to pay respects to the royal family which was a laugh as his daughters still had not arrived with Adam's uncle, the King.

They were to be at the castle within the hour and he still hadn't made any progress with the mountain of work to be done. He really hadn't believed he would be back to doing this after so short a period of time. He had been certain, at the time, that he would be a beast for the rest of his short life and thus would not have any need for the tedium of being a Prince.

A knock came at the door and he jumped just a little bit, having been engrossed in a staff ledger. He ran a hand through his unruly hair and set his quill down on the desk carefully.

"Enter!" he shouted at the door and it creaked open ominously.

His blue eyes met an identical set of brown ones, as a rather peaky looking Gabriel slipped into the study and closed the door behind him.

"Gabriel." Adam's voice was meant to sound pleasant but only came across as surprised.

The boy stood at the door as if stealing himself to do something terrible. Adam shifted in his chair to see if he was carrying a pistol. When nothing was said for several moments, Adam leaned forward to give the impression that he wasn't unnerved by this sudden visitor. In truth he had done his best to avoid both Gabriel and the boy's mother in attempts to stem at least a little of the pain that was owed him.

"What can I do for-"

"The royal carriages are here." Gabriel said abruptly.

"Oh!" Adam couldn't help but get to his feet and look out the window of his study. And, indeed, the carriages were standing still in front of the castle gates. Adam silently kicked himself for not having heard them arrive. He must have been more preoccupied then he thought.

He turned back abruptly to look at Gabriel who wore half-mourning clothes and looked similar to a kicked puppy then a grown boy.

"Why did Lumiere send you? I would think he would show you more respect. I am sorry you had to come all the way up here." Adam spoke as he moved, unable to look at those brown eyes anymore. He was back at his desk shoving papers in a drawer before he made his way to the great hall to greet his daughters.

"The princesses are here?" There was a strange tone to the question that made Adam think it wasn't a question at all.

He looked up and nodded his head. "Yes, they were in residence with my uncle, the King, this season."

"They are your daughters?"

Adam paused again at how Gabriel continued to stand at the closed door with eyes that never left Adam's face. "Yes, they are my daughters."

"And you love them?"

Something in the back of Adam's senses told him this was a trick but he couldn't look away.

"I do. Very much."

"How much?"

"With my whole life."

"Why?"

"Because...I am...their father and that is what fathers do."

"All fathers?"

Adam lowered his gaze a moment as his own father flashed into his mind. "No, not all fathers."

"Just some, then? Is it because some children are not worth loving?"

A heavy shake made his obnoxious hair fall in his eyes. "No! All children are worth loving."

"But not me?"

Adam gave the boy a stern look. "What are you talking about?"

Gabriel shuffled his weight from one foot to the other. "You know...when I was little, when we lived with the washer woman, my mother taught me to pray."

Adam's eyes widened a length but he didn't interrupt. "She told me that my prayers were so special that no matter where we were or what we were doing that God would hear me. I always wondered why _she_ didn't pray so I tried to pray for both of us. And you know what I prayed for?"

Adam shook his head slowly, realizing that this was not a conversation that could end well.

"You. I prayed for you. I prayed that whoever it was that my mother missed so much would come back to us. I prayed that I could have a father like the boys in the village. When no one would take me as an apprentice, I prayed that you would come and tell them that you were really a knight from the king's own castle and that you would make me the best apprentice that ever was! I would have given anything to just meet you."

"Gabriel, I-"

"But you see, I did alright without you. I took care of her when you didn't. And we're alright. We made it and despite what she thought, in the woods, we would have been alright if we hadn't come here."

"I know. I know you would have." Adam couldn't keep the tremor from his voice as his gaze stayed fixed on the boy in front of him.

"I used to think that if you ever came back that I could show you what kind of a man I've become. Someone you could be proud of. I don't care about that anymore. You aren't anything of what I thought you would be. "

A tear slipped out of Adam before he could stop it. "Gabriel..."

"But to her...I think...she still sees you. Even when she doesn't think I notice. She sees you wherever she goes."

"You don't understand." Was all Adam could manage to get out.

"She told me that, somehow, you were the same. You and His Lordship. If that's true then you remember everything you said to me. I've never had anyone that wanted to be my friend and... His Lordship Beast said he was my friend."

What had appeared to be a collected impassioned speech finally broke through and all Adam could see was that young boy freezing to death in the woods. Gabriel didn't seem to notice the look of pain on the older man's face as he continued.

"If that's true then you promised! You promised us that you wouldn't make us leave. That you wanted us. Even if you can't love me because I'm not like your daughters. Even if I'm not worth it. Please, please don't forget about my mother. Please don't make her live without you anymore. She's worth it...even if I'm not."

And before Adam could stop him he watched through blurry eyes as Gabriel threw open the door and ran as far away as he could. If it was a grand exit he had desired then that is exactly the effect he had on the wretched man he had left inside.

* * *

Lumiere was a little flustered as he made his way to the Prince's study. Flustered was not the best look on him and so he thought of Babette and how he had left her that morning and it brought a smile to his eyes.

He approached the door, gave a short knock, called out, and then didn't wait for a response before barging in.

"Adam, you silly boy!" He called into the room jovially. "Two petite princesses are waiting for you. Zey ask where you are every two minutes. I zent Dorien ages ago."

Adam stood at the window in all black, his hair mussed up, as always. One arm was wrapped around his chest and the other was fisted at his mouth.

"Not Gabriel?" He said into his knuckles.

"No, of course not. Gabriel is not a footman."

When Adam did not turn or say anything else, Lumiere took a step in his direction. "What is it, Mon ami?"

Adam shifted a little and looked up at Lumiere from his position at the window. His expression as shattered as it had ever been.

"He's mine, isn't he?"

Lumiere sank a little into his ankles as his face morphed into one of complete sympathy. " 'E is your son, oui."

Adam squeezed his eyes shut to block out the grief and pressed his fingers to his eyelids to try and hold himself together.

"How long have you all known?"

"Sinze 'e arrived. 'E would be your son anywhere doing anyzing."

"I didn't see it because I didn't want to see it."

"Now now. Zat does not matter anymore. You know now and can fix it."

"How?!" Adam burst out but it had an underlying sob beneath the anger. "I've missed everything! You didn't hear him, Lumiere. He suffered and I had no idea. I couldn't feel it. What kind of father would miss that?!"

"Ah, so zat is why you asked about 'im. 'E was up 'ere melting your 'eart of stone, was 'e?"

"I don't know how to fix this. How could we have let it get so...so...wrong!?"

"Oh my Friend, 'ow easy it is to steal your 'eart zese days. All zat boy 'as ever wanted waz you. I am confident zat you will do quite well wiz 'im. You already 'ave."

"If by 'quite well' you mean a clumsy fool, then you are right." Adam sank down onto the window seat and put his face in his hands.

"Zere are worse zings zen finding your lost child is alive, you know."

Lifting his head a little Adam looked at the floor attentively. "I loved my child with Belle before he even existed. After he was lost, I imagined every moment I missed with him. I imagined raising him...er _it,_ I didn't actually know the sex, to be the finest prince this land has ever seen. And he would never-" Adam clenched his fists with emotion. "NEVER wonder if I loved him or not. He would never think for a moment that he wasn't more important than life to his father. And now...Now I have a son who is almost a man. He spent his whole life wondering if his father loved him and believed that he wasn't worth returning to. God, if I had only known! If I had just kept looking!"

"Zen your daughters would not be 'ere. Would you wish zem away to restore what may 'ave 'appened?"

Adam's heart clenched at the thought and he reluctantly shook his head. "No, not for the wide world. I have lived two impossible lives and now they are at war with one another."

"It will not be won wishing it were different, mon petit prince."

"What am I to do?"

"You are to go and comfort your daughters. Zey lost zere mozer zis week and never got to say goodbye. Zen you will take zat beautiful woman zat you love and tell 'er everzing! Tell 'er you 'ave always loved 'er. Tell 'er zat you cannot live wizout 'er. Zen let ze rest come togezer on its own. Even _you_ can manage zat, I do zink."

"You'd be surprised."

"Zen surprise me but don't waste anozer moment of zat boy's life. You were a beast at ze exact age 'e is now. You never got ze opportunity to experience life from zat perspective. Perhaps zis is your second chance."

Adam thought on that for several moments before his face relaxed a little at the thought.

"Perhaps you're right."


End file.
